Helix Stages Vol 2: Another Version of the Truth
by onelildustbunni
Summary: Volume 2 of Helix. New X-men AU: Helix : Hellion/X23 :: Julian Keller / Laura Kinney Volume 3 coming Jan 2009
1. 1: B2S 1:5 smells like teen spirit

**Title: **Helix Volume 2: to be named  
(NOTE: **Helix (Stages) Volume 1: the first try **is the first volume of this story.  
While this volume can be read alone, I reccomend reading the first, or else you won't get some of the references.

**Pairing: **Hellion/X-23 (Julian Keller/Laura Kinney)**  
**

**Story type: **Everything under the sun!

**A/N: **Okay, so the story got so big I've split it up into Volumes. This is now the story that will be updated. All previous chapters are now in **  
Helix (Stages) Volume 1: the first try **and I think this will make it a bit easier to read. With the turn the story has taken, I don't think it  
makes sense to keep it with the first volume.

**Laura K. Howlett: **

_Please tell me Julian cheats on Sofia with Laura... _  
Hahahaha. Ahaha. Ha. Read on ;-)

_Who's Laura going to be roommates with? (I know, keep reading) _  
I actually didn't cover this one initially. Good thing ya said something! I caught it just in time, your answer is in here.

_Are you going to drop the X-23, and go with Talon? (I know keep reading)_  
Yep, keep reading.

_Stages into volumes? Well, that would make even more comic like :)...and calling it, Helix? sweet. _  
_Whatabout, "Stages of Helix" or something, as the overall title (chapters  
split into vols.) That way when someone looks for "Stages" they'll still find  
it?_

TAAA DAHHHH!

_Really, love the change. And loved the sunspots piece. Oh, and I've been  
meaning to ask, are you still planning to do those...NC-17 ones?_

You know it! And ty ty. I realized what a geek I was last night when I caught myself reading my own story...and laughing...don't worry,  
my boyfriend is a sweetheart and makes an effort to point out what a nerd I can be. Interesting little fact...some of Julian's behaviour

IS modeled after my bf, Harper. SHHHH don't tell him! ;-)

**zackslacker18  
**_You got that idea from spiderman one more day/brand new day arc  
_Haha, actually, I've never read Spiderman in my life, except for Ultimate Spiderman #1-#20. My obsession circles around the X-men...at the moment just  
the new X-men, although I like Ultimate X-men too. Any similarities to a Spiderman arc are unintentional, although I'm not surprised this idea has been  
done before. If anything, I got influenced by volume 7 of New X-men: here comes tommorow, and it gave me this idea a bit. Of course I worked it in with  
Messiah Complex and worked in my own ideas for Hellion and X-23.

**SONG CHAPTER!! **Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, worth listening to. Oh, btw, interesting random fact: the Julian of this section of stages is a Nirvana and a NiN fan.  
Laura likes the same, but also Tori Amos, Marilyn Mansion, and Björk. I thought assigning them music tastes might elaborate into their characters a bit.

* * *

**Arc 1: B2S (Back 2 Skewl)**

* * *

** Chapter 30: smells like teen spirit **

* * *

"Keller, Julian."

"Present," the boy from last week's near-introductory-fight said, his eyes fixed on a tall, slim girl with astoundingly long  
brunette hair far to his right. Laura wondered if her hair was her "special gift", and had to look away to prevent herself  
from smiling. She didn't know how to control her emotions too well—she either got over bitchy, or over happy, or over  
angry. Never anything in moderation.

"Kinney, Laura."

"Here."

Laura hung her head slightly; she hated public attention situations. Everyone was doing it now—staring at her like  
she was a museum exhibit.

A few people beside Julian noticed him give a small start, but the rest of the attendance passed without complication.  
Cyclops adjusted the clipboard in his hands. "Excellent, we're all present and accounted for, what a strange occurrence.  
Welcome to the fall term; those who were here for the summer will find it's a lot more work. Classes start Monday the 10th.  
As we did last fall, we will be re-introducing the squads for ability development."

Beside him, the headmistress shifted; she was a lady that Laura had seen before, on TV. She had blazing red hair, green  
eyes, and a kind face; at his other elbow was a woman clad in white that looked like she should be in Playboy.

"The squads will be the same. Jean Grey-Summers, headmistress, will advise the New Mutants squad, lead again by  
Sofia Mantega (Wind Dancer and David Alleyne, Progeny). Emma Frost will advise the Hellions, lead by Julian Keller  
(Hellion). Danielle Moonstar will advise the Alpha Squadron…"

Laura wished she could leave. She crossed her eyes and began to let her mind wander into its many crevices. She was  
scared of her own mind sometimes; ordinary functions like trying to remember a date or a face could bring other memories  
with it. And they weren't pleasant.

"…adjourned," the dull voice atoned. Laura slipped her hands into her pockets and began to weave her way towards the  
entrance stairs. Her fingers encountered a piece of paper in the fabric folds and she pulled it out. An outline of the meeting  
the one-eyed man had just gone over. She crumpled it and threw it at the garbage can. It froze in mid-air.

"Aren't you the least bit interested in the shit that happens here?"

Laura closed her eyes. Oh, god, was he irritating. "Please, leave."

"It's a free country," Keller said, opening the paper. In truth, he wanted to talk to Laura—for some odd reason, despite her  
obvious dislike of him and her harsh dismissals, his curiosity was peaked. At the same time, she made him feel a bit  
awkward and he wanted something to hold while he was talking to her.

"See? This squad here?" He held up the paper over his head with a grin, pointing to his. "You should join it, yeah. You'd  
look hot in a suit. And I could boss you around much as I want."

"Grrr!" Laura snatched the paper from him, her face red. "You watch it…"

"Or what?" he taunted.

"I'll report you for sexual harassment," Laura hissed. "That's the kind of thing that just doesn't come off your record.  
Believe me." Her aunt Debbie was a lawyer.

"Oh, my god, no!" Keller made a face of horror. "Please don't. Too bad it wouldn't work anyways…me and Frost  
are like this." He crossed his fingers.

"Like this?" Laura raised her own fingers, crossed them, then rubbed them together. "You on the bottom, under Summers. With her watching."

"My fuck, you're sick," Keller said, his own face turning hot. Laura laughed derisively and turned to leave. He grabbed  
her shoulder. "Hey—I—uh—wait…" his cheeks had actually reddened. "You wanna, um, hang out?"

"Honestly? Not if I can avoid it." Laura said scornfully.

Keller took his hand off her shoulder. "Okay then. Jeez." He stood for a second looking down, then disappeared between some passing  
students. Laura stomped upstairs, wondering how much more of this she could tolerate.

**…  
**

"You hit on the new girl, didn't you?" Cessily asked, leaning on her elbows.

Julian ignored her, concentrating on his mashed potatoes. They needed to be grooved, for the gravy to run down properly…  
he liked to pretend his potatoes were a volcano, and the gravy lava, something that was leftover from his childhood and  
he doubted would ever change.

"And she said no?"

"Lay off, Cess," Julian grumbled.

"You're obviously hurt," she said quietly.

"I said, lay off. What part didn't you understand?"

"The 'off' and the 'lay'," Cessily grinned. "Look, tell me. You'll feel better about it once you do. She's obviously a loser to turn  
you down without even getting to know you better."

Julian flushed. "Uh, first, I didn't ask her out, or anything, so she didn't say no. Second, I don't even _like_ her. Third…even if I did,  
she'd just be a notch on the bedpost, know what I mean?"

"That's a tiny bedpost," the pile of rocks beside him grunted with a big stupid grin. "You use a toothpick to make your notches?"

"Shut up," Julian said, but he didn't seem angry. "I've made my peace with it, Cess…move on. The one I _do_ like, however…"  
he looked over at the New Mutant's table, towards the long-haired girl named Sofia.

Laura continued to eat her tortilla at the unassigned table, casually eavesdropping on everything the Hellion's table said, even  
though she was about eight tables away. She had superior hearing, just like Wolverine; it didn't even occur to her to avoid listening.

The other table—the new something-or-other—were talking about a danger-room thing, that sounded like a game. They sounded  
like they were all full of compliments for each other. Laura wanted to mime vomit, but she was eating, and there was no one there to  
see her. She missed Megan intensely at that moment. She missed aunt Debbie. And Sarah, although she was angry at her.

**…**

"Ah, Miss Kinney. It's nice to meet you," Scott Summers said, reaching across the table for her hand. They both remained in  
Laura's lap, folded; her back was ramrod straight. After a moment, he retracted his hand.

Laura tilted her head for a moment. Early 30's, short brown hair, red visor hiding eyes (presumably blue behind them). Weight  
approximately 81.6466266 kilograms (180 lbs.), obvious mutate. _Snff_. He smelled like lime shaving cream.

"It's okay, I understand that you didn't want to come here," he was saying in a kind voice. "Many reactions are common from  
people just getting used to being different."

"I've had my powers as long as I can remember," Laura said, unblinking. This was something she liked to do to figures of  
authority—stare at them, unwaveringly. For some reason, her eyes did not smart when she held them open for long periods  
of time; no one had ever beat her at a staring contest.

"I see." Scott made a note on his pad. Laura also liked to assign first names to people that looked down on her.

"Do you take Viagra every day, or was last night your first time?" Laura asked. The idea that if she did poorly, or got expelled  
from the school, her mother Sarah would come and retrieve her, had persisted.

"Mhmm. Wha—Miss Kinney." Scott cleared his throat. "I understand what you're trying to do. You're a brilliant girl—you will be  
studying with Mrs. Summers and Dr. McCoy to see what they can do to expand your knowledge, amongst others. Your grades  
have always been astoundingly high—100 average is, well, unheard of. However, records indicate that you have a tendency  
to get into fights."

Laura shifted. "You actually bother looking at records for this dump?"

"If they are available, yes," Scott said, ignoring her insult of the school.

"This former behavior has been taken into consideration were squad placing is concerned. Miss Kinney, you have been hand-picked  
by Emma Frost for her Hellions squad."

"WHAT?" Laura stood up. "You burn that piece of paper, right now. I will not have anything to do with that man-whore Keller."

Scott couldn't help it; a small smile made it past his restraint. "I take it you've met the team's leader, then?"

"_He_ met _me_," Laura said angrily. "I do not want to participate in this 'squad'. I have perfect control over my powers. I can blend into society."

"Your mother would like us to instruct you in defense, Miss Kinney."

Laura fell silent. Her mother, her mother. Quietly but firmly making decisions behind her back, neatly deconstructing her life.

"That is all for today, Miss Kinney. You will be meeting with Emma this Monday, at four PM, after your first classes. Please be  
prepared; you will need to think up a codename that encompasses your powers, and which you will answer to while in uniform."  
He gave her a smile. "You're lucky, Emma lets her students choose their own names. Dani and Jean don't."

Laura closed her eyes.

**…**

"There a Laura Kinney here?" a gruff voice at the door asked.

Laura was sitting in her room—the only space in the school that she could be alone in. At least her mother had shelled out the extra cash to  
make sure she didn't have to room with some sickening bubblegum chewing perfume-wearing teeny bopper for the next few years…

She looked over her shoulder at the door. Wolverine. How awkward. He was apparently back from his elaborate, time-consuming mission,  
and was here to meet the 'daughter' he'd known about but never cared to check up on.

What does one say in such a situation?

She opened the door pensively. "Yes?"

"'llo." Wolverine was surprisingly short; she'd expected him to tower above her, but he was only about four inches taller than herself. He  
looked mean and rough and she wished desperately that she was anywhere but here. She tilted her head.

About mid to late 30's in appearance, though she knew he was older. Messy black hair, blue eyes, weight deceptive—appearance of about  
86.1825503 kilograms (190 lbs.), but it had to be more, knowing what she did. Mutate. _Snff_. Surprisingly, his base scent was like hers; more  
so than the usual scent of a parent compared with their child.

Wolverine was doing the same thing to her, for a moment.

"Hi," she said in a small voice, breaking the silence. "Wolverine?"

"You can call me 'Logan', kid. Won't even make you say 'mister'…all things considered." He touched Laura's chin—AWKWARD! she thought,  
jerking her head away in irritation.

"You're almost identical to your mom," he said, sounding surprised.

"Yes," Laura said. She didn't feel so talkative.

"Thought you'd look more like me…all things considered."

"Huh?" Laura unfolded her arms.

"Well…you are my clone, after all."

**…**

"WHAT THE FUCK, MOM?! WHAT THE FUCK?!" Laura pounded her fist into the tabletop, ignoring Wolverine's attempts to calm  
her down as she screamed into the mouthpiece of the telephone. "HOW could you not TELL me?! OH MY GOD! I'M JUST A SCIENCE  
EXPERIMENT! YOU SICK, FUCKED UP…you know what? I just disowned you. GOODBYE!" Laura hurled the cordless phone, the  
receiver, the lamp, and the table the whole display was on at the wall so hard that everything broke.

"Kid…I didn't know she didn't tell you….I…I wouldn't have said anything…" Wolverine looked just the smallest bit disturbed. Laura was  
clenching her fists so hard they were shaking. "Leave, now, they're going to come out," she said, just as two points began to slide  
under her skin on each hand.

"They don't disturb me," Logan said. "I've got more of 'em than you do."

Laura paused, studying the older man. "Please, leave. I'll…I'll talk to you later, when I'm not so upset. I need to be alone now."

He nodded, and closed the door behind him. Laura let herself plop down behind her bed, turning her forearm over and drawing her  
claws slowly up the clean skin of her wrist. Every drop that seeped out eased her anger, like a drug.

**…**

"Kinney! Hey, Kinney!"

Laura's neck twitched irritably. "I thought I told you I wanted nothing to do with you," she said coldly to the boy as he jogged towards  
her, his breath coming in puffs in the cool autumn air.

"Tough. I heard you picked my squad."

"You've been misinformed. _I_ was picked _for_ your squad. I had no choice."

Keller frowned. "You wanted a different one?"

Laura rubbed her fingers in her mitts, something she did when she was angry. "I want to go home. I hate it here, I hate everyone, and  
most of all I hate _you_. I really wish you'd leave me alone so I could be miserable in peace."

He paused. "Laura—look, if we're going to be on the same unit, we at least have to be civil to each other. I don't know what your beef is…  
okay, so you don't like it here. But I don't hate you…and maybe you have to see the good in a bad situation?"

Laura stared at him. "Did you really just equate yourself as…oh god. You are to vomit." She ripped her hand out of his attempt to grasp  
her wrist so fast that he was left holding her glove. "Leave me alone. Goodbye."

"No! I didn't mean that…damnit Laura! I just said that wrong!" He held her mitt, feeling useless. "Look…I don't just not hate you, I _like_ you.  
I want to be your friend. You're more entertaining than three-quarters of the population here."

"You named your squad after yourself. I can't overlook it," Laura said.

"For the love of god. I did not." Keller put his hands on her shoulders. "Emma Frost named her squad the Hellions…and when she asked  
me to pick a name, I decided I liked that name…it sounds so cool, and I wanted to prove I was worth her time. I didn't know she was going  
to form a squad named that. I was…I was embarrassed." He looked away.

Laura raised her eyebrows. "You, embarrassed? You don't have a cell in your body that's not occupied by ego."

He grinned. "Wanna bet?"

"Spare me." Laura shoved him away and took off across the grounds, not even bothering to retrieve the mitt he still held.

**…**

"Knock knock."

Laura had scrambled out of her bed, run to the door, and proceeded to tear it open the instant the words left his mouth, her hearing  
having alerted her to his presence far before.

"What the—" Laura's enraged eyes searched his. "It's like you're stalking me! I'm going to file complaints!"

Keller held up her mitt. "Thought you might want this back. You know, so you don't have to tell mommy you lost it, and she wouldn't  
have to starve to buy you a new pair."

"Har, har," Laura hissed. "You come up with that all by yourself, or did your squad help you?"

Keller grinned. "You're just egging me on, you know. Here." He tried to hand the mitt to her. She stepped back.

"Ugh, I don't want it…it's contaminated now!"

"Jesus, why did I even try to be nice?" he asked, throwing her mitt on the floor. "Like I said, I don't hate you Laura…I like you…  
it's rare I like people here, you should be flattered and honored and all that shit."

"Oh, so I'm one of the chosen ones now? Is that it?" Laura leaned out the door to hiss the words at him. "Well, guess what, I don't  
think you're all that special. In fact, you're just average. You're weak, you little human."

Keller's eyes widened from the constant squinting leer that seemed to be fixed on his face. "What the—what did you just call me?"

"Human," Laura said, grinning meanly.

Keller fell silent. Then…"This from the clone."

He couldn't have gotten a more spectacular reaction out of Laura if he'd tried. She slapped him so hard the imprint of her hand was  
outlined on his cheek, and the hallway echoed with the fleshy sound. "You…" she choked.

"Wow, guess who has a file on who," Keller groaned, rubbing his cheek. "Bitch!" he swung for her side; Laura dodged neatly, bringing  
her boot between his legs. She found her foot blocked by an invisible resistance; suddenly she was twisted off balance to the floor.

**…**

Laura's head finally cleared, and she had the sense to push him away from herself, horrified. They were now separate from their  
clothing, and instead coated with a thin sheet of perspiration.

"BARF," she gasped. Her head whipped around; the door was closed, thankfully. He must've had the sense to close it before it had  
started to get…she didn't want to think about that.

"Nothing I haven't see before," Keller said, his eyes half-closed. "That was hot. That was fucking awesome! You're not half bad, Kinney."

Laura sat up, holding her discarded shirt to her front. "Just leave. Now. I don't ever, _ever_ want to see you again. However, if this  
spreads around the school, I'll kill you in your sleep, you have my word."

"I wouldn't tell anyone, I'm not a jerk…" Keller touched his lips to her knee. She shuddered. "Besides…Sofia...I wouldn't want her to know."

Laura paled. "You're cheating on her, on top of everything. I think I'm going to vomit. I've defiled myself."

"No!—I—Sofia won't…" he looked down.

"A lot of people won't touch it, huh?" she asked, sneering.

"You just did," he pointed out. "Besides…Sofia just has some issues. She's so unsure of things. But if there was a chance for her  
and me…I want it more than anything else…well, except for being a real X-man."

"Loser." Laura ignored the earnestness of his tone. "Can we start that disappearing thing now? I think it would be fun."

Keller appeared to pout. She turned away, pulling on her shirt.

"Wait a minute, who said I was done?" he asked, scooping his arm around her waist.

"Go any further and it'll be rape," Laura hissed. "Or death for you. What happened before…that was just pity sex, and there  
was only one serving."

"I think it was more like angry sex," he grinned. "But I can promise you, you'll forget the word 'rape' the second I start."

Laura opened her mouth to yell at him more, but the tingling started. Amazed, she stared at the palms of her hands and her feet.  
A green light was slowly engulfing her body, causing the feeling her self-bleeding caused…but all over, and without the blood.  
Then it hit the point of no return, and the room was filled with an entirely different noise.


	2. 1: B2S 2:5 x names the clone

**A/N: **Glad to see that everyone likes the change. I was worried about the reception of the new Laura (well not really _worried_ but I wondered if people would like her being a bit OC). But she's not, really...while she talks differently (a bit), she still has the same base personality. I didn't suddenly make her the world's authority on living. TGIF!! This chapter answers a few more of your questions, Laura K. Howlett ;-)

* * *

**Chapter 31: x names the clone **

* * *

"Guys…our newest teammate. Our newest teammate…guys." Keller pulled Laura down beside him on the bench, giving her  
no choice to bolt. "Her name's Laura Kinney. Isn't she hot? I—"

"Be quiet," Laura hissed, sliding her claw a tiny bit into his leg.

"Jesus Christ!" Keller grabbed her hand under the table. "Sorry, she's having trouble controlling her strange mutant powers."  
Before she could protest, he slapped her clawed hand on the table for all to see.

"Since when do you have a ring tan?" Laura asked, surprised. On Keller's ring finger was a slightly lighter band of skin, as if  
he had worn a ring for an extended period of time, through a season at least.

"What? I do not." He examined his hand. "Huh…must've been something I was wearing. Maybe a class ring I forgot."

"Weird! Let me see! And hi, Laura," a girl with silver skin and red hair said, grabbing Keller's hand. "I'm Cessily. My codename  
is Mercury. How are you liking the school so far?"

"It's terrible," Laura said blandly. "I hate it here. I hate everyone, including all of you. I want to go home."

"I don't want a kill-joy like that on the team!" the big pile of rocks to Keller's right said angrily. "She's a party killer! What's  
wrong with you, Keller? Talk to Frost, right now, and arrange her to be transferred away."

"Shut up, Santo," Keller said. Under the table again, his hand found Laura's. She tried to jerk it out of reach, but then noticed his  
eyes were gazing over the silver girl's shoulder at the tall slim longhaired girl, Sofia. For some reason, she let it stay, and found  
that his hand wasn't all that unpleasant. It wasn't cold and clammy like most boy's (and men's) hands were; it was dry, and soft,  
and warm…and strong. _Oh, fuck me_, she thought, alarmed. _I sound like a trashy novel. I'm enjoying it._

He squeezed her hand. "You need a codename," he said.

"I know! Ohmigod, best name ever. CLAWS!" Santo said in his usual manner of intended stupidity. "Or how 'bout Wolverine?  
Wait, maybe it's taken."

"Shut up, Santo," Cessily said. It seemed to be the thing to say. "Talon?" the silver skinned girl added.

"Huntress," Keller grinned. Laura wanted to pull a karate move she'd learned that would allow her to flip him over her shoulder  
by pinning his elbow down on her leg, but she controlled the impulse.

"Kevin? Any suggestions?" Cessily asked, looking hopefully at a pale boy in a trench coat towards the end of the table.

"I dunno. I'm not much for the school names." Laura liked him already.

"Nail?" the dark-skinned boy from a few weeks ago suggested. This was followed by some silent laughter from all the boys.

"Pounce…" Keller continued to taunt her with their secret. "How about Maul?"

"Sooraya? Want to comment?" Cessily asked, to a girl dressed in a full niqab and burqa. Laura instantly recognized her to be Sunni.

She did not know how.

"I…I do not know. I am not the best person to ask." Sooraya looked down.

"How about _you_, Laura? Any suggestions?"

Laura looked at the table. "If I have to have a different name…I would prefer it to relate to something I'm interested in." She studied her  
hand on the table. "The human DNA has 46 chromosomes, when combined. I am half that…I am just the same number replicated. I have 23  
chromosomes repeated. Maybe I'll call myself 23."

Keller scoffed. "That's gay. You can't call yourself a number."

"Wasn't there one guy called 8-ball or something?" Santo asked.

"Still had a word in it," Keller rubbed his chin. "Hah. How about X-23?"

"What is the purpose of the X?" Laura asked coolly. She'd tensed up when she'd heard the name, put together like that, feeling that,  
somehow, it was familiar.

"It…I dunno, it sounds cool," Keller said. "Um, everything here is X, just like everything Batman is Bat. Doesn't X stand for the mutant  
chromosome? Wouldn't it be like saying you have 23 mutant chromosome-things?"

"Actually, it's the female gene. The male gene is Y." Laura sneered at him. "You failed Biology, didn't you?" she asked derisively.

"I'm in it right now," he mumbled.

"But you look like you're nineteen or so," Laura said, surprised that she was wrong.

He nodded. "Nineteen and a quarter. I…had some home interference and I took a break from school. Two years behind."

Laura felt like crying 'this isn't fair!'. This meant he would be in her classes.

"Why don't we have an X-mobile?" Santo asked. "That'd be so cool! And we could have little X-shaped throwing stars…"

"We don't need them," Keller said flatly. "Santo…we _have_ powers. Besides, we do have a jet called the X-wing."

"I want a cape," Santo grunted.

Laura finished her dinner in silence, her fingers crossed that she wouldn't have to share more than meal-time with Keller.

**…  
**

Sure enough, she'd just entered the empty classroom, the first to arrive, when Keller came running after her, like a puppy with a short lead.  
"HI!" he yelled in her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezing so she could feel exactly what was pressing against her back.

"Miss me?"

"Oh my god, get it away from me!" she said, pushing him away with one hand and rubbing her aching ear with the other. She'd known he  
was coming, but not would he would do; and once a loud sound was out there was no way to stop the pain associated with it.

"Thought we could, I dunno, be study partners," he grinned, holding up his stack of books. "You can be the person I get to talk to if I miss a class.  
Or if I get lonely. Something like that." He breathed in her ear.

"Pervert," she said, whacking him away with her Biology volume. She didn't know which disturbed her more—Keller being near her, or her body  
responding by involuntarily breaking out in shivers.

He laughed and sat down in the front, then patted the stool next to his. "Your butt. Right here. I think your butt's hot, by the way. Any chance you like anal?"

"I can't sit there, there'd be a creep impeding my learning if I did," Laura said, plunking her books down on the table in front of the farthest seat away  
from him, in the opposite corner of the room. "Hey—wait! What're you doing?!"

Her books were surrounded by the same green that had made her tingle on the floor, and they gracefully soared to the table beside Keller's. "You next.  
Ooh, we could screw on the table here, we've still got half an hour. I'm normally not such a big dork that I show up early for schoolin's but I saw you leave  
and figured what the hell."

"Put me down!" Laura said as he repeated the same process with her person, landing her in his lap. "Oh, hi. What brings you here, spitfire?"

Laura was about to jam her claws into his crotch when the door opened, and their teacher, Dr. McCoy, entered. "Oh, dear me. Should I leave the room  
and give you two a moment to get decent?" he asked.

"Nah, we're done here," Keller grinned. To Laura's absolute horror he leaned forward and kissed her, tongue and all. She pushed him off the chair.

"That was gross," she said.

"I think you may have vomited a little in my mouth," he laughed. "Hot. I swallowed. Do you swallow?"

"Children, please. A teacher is present. Don't make me send you to Ms. Frost for counseling…I don't think you would recover."

Keller got to his feet, looking serious now. "Uh, okay sir. Sorry. Just having a little fun. We'll be serious now." He winked at Laura, and she put her face  
in her hands. "Still…spitfire…that's _my_ seat."

"Mine now." Laura opened his notebook, to find Sofia's name scribbled all over it, and little sketches of her that were surprisingly accurate. And there,  
in a corner, one of her—smiling. She was immediately freaked out—she'd never smiled in his presence; how did he know what she looked like with that expression?

"You wanna know what's really freaky?"

Despite herself, Laura asked. "What?"

"I drew that before I even saw you," Keller professed.

Laura slammed the book shut. "Okay, so you're a pre-cognitive," she said after a second of shuddering in repulsion. "Big deal. I have claws and a healing factor."

"I'm not a pre-cog," Keller mumbled. "Just a TK. I was tested for all sorts of mental powers. I just have a really strong brain." "

"You've brought new meaning to the term 'all brawn and no brain'," Laura said, looking away.

**…  
**

Keller committed himself to claiming a seat beside Laura in every class they shared—four in total—even going as far as to scare another kid off to get it.

Time and time again, he told her, even volunteered, the fact that he was not after her. He had eyes only for Sofia, he said. His declarations and statements  
did not explain to her what his game was; during class he'd be scribbling notes in his scrambled left-handed script, but he'd slip his shoe off, and the top of  
his foot would brush against Laura's calf every so often. She found it hard to concentrate—she couldn't quite fight him off, as he did it at the oddest moments;  
perhaps the strangest was when, during one break, he leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes—and suddenly she realized just what he was thinking about.  
She barely kept quiet, and she had to stay behind the rest of the class to wipe her chair down when they were done for the day. She was furious with herself  
for not protesting—it had been possibly the best physical sensation of her life, which made it impossible to resist—but she was still furious. Every time class  
was over, she swore she'd move to a seat as far away from him as she could possibly find; but every time he started touching her in whatever method he  
chose, she forgot all about it.

She was worried she was becoming addicted to something entirely new—that she hated.

**…  
**

Julian rubbed his face sleepily. He'd just been having the greatest dream—Sofia, in Tahiti. They'd just been about to move beyond foreplay  
when a knocking sound had broken the dream. He'd rolled out of bed sleepily, still in the dream, and tripped on his own blanket.

"What? It's two thirty in the morning and I have class tomorrow. Go 'way." He opened his eyes and started.

"Fine," Laura said, turning away.

"Nonono, get over here," he said, yanking her into his room and shutting the door. He was suddenly happy to be woken up—real-boobs  
were always better than dream-boobs. And Laura's were quite fantastic.

He backed her up against the closed door. "Sorry, I was having a good dream—er, I mean a bad one. Wanna make me feel better?"

"Not really," Laura said, looking down. "You weren't kidding, were you?"

"It _was_ a good dream," he said, pressing up against her. "It was about you."

"Bull shit, you were moaning Sofia's name," Laura said angrily. "And I wasn't talking about your dream. I meant the picture."

He stopped. "Uh, no…I wasn't. I did that about a month before you came here. And how the hell did you hear me? Do I have a little stalker?"

Laura looked down, wanting to preserve her secret long as possible. But the idea of Keller thinking she would bother stalking him… "Fine. I  
have…enhanced hearing, like Wolverine."

Julian paused, but he decided he didn't care. He hadn't said anything that mattered too near her, anyways. He touched her neck, and noticed  
she wasn't pulling away from his slight pressure. "Laura…are you going to stay?"

"Can I…can I just sleep with you?" she asked, flooring him. "Only sleep…I don't want anything else. I don't know why I even want this."

He put his hands on her shoulders, and marveled at the fact that she did not move away. As his thumbs ran over the tops of her breasts, he  
realized Sofia was now the furthest thing from his mind.

"Are you sure? Nothing else?" he asked.

"Yes," Laura said firmly.

**…  
**

It disturbed him that she felt so familiar. She curled against him, her head in the crook of his elbow, her stomach fitting his arm perfectly like  
they'd slept together for a long time, or they'd been custom-made, or something like that. And it disturbed him that he'd barely formed this  
thought when he began to drift off into a relaxed, peaceful sleep. He _never_ slept with girls—he never could feel that comfortable.

In the morning, he awoke to a knock at the door. It was Sofia, yelling that she needed to talk to him. He bolted up, his first thought of  
Laura—but she was already gone, leaving the faintest imprint on the bed to suggest she had been there. _Damn_, he thought, realizing  
he was more upset than relieved.


	3. 1: B2S 3:5 you remind me

**A/N: **Bah, I'm supposed to be doing homework...a bunch of...plots took over my head and I let myself sit down for a second and BAM! couple hours later... .  
Hehe I couldn't resist posting this chapter...I enjoyed writing it. Alot. Enjoy! X-D

**Laura K. Howlett:**

_Yeah, I noticed her "base" personality at the end of vol.1. This one was more  
explicit then usual, (Keller is such a perv) is that style going to stay? _

Read on. Definitely more explicit. Julian was way oppressed in the last one volume, by circumstances. It wasn't really the right time to be a pervo, his friends  
were dying. I recently got to read a bit of New Mutants, and I saw that bit about him undoing Frost's shirt. Hah! I knew I had to write him like that, too much  
fun. Keller _will_ stay a pervo, but it might tone down a bit in areas, because Laura's a pervo too, and outshines him often. Oh btw they're both jerks.

_Deja vu..._ yep, there's that in here, all right. They will eventually level out a bit. More in the beginning.

_I didn't mind it. Also, are you going to -or- can you have some Julian p.o.v's  
coming up, like in the very last part? _  
Yup. I switch back-and-forth from narrator, Laura PoV, Julian PoV. It can be noted that some people's names change,  
depending what PoV the scene is being told from. I will never do a first person scene, but I will elaborate on the situation. A good one to note is Hellion;  
he's Keller from Laura's PoV and Julian from his own.

_Web interview thingy: _Oh, my god. Yes, please. The issue in which this pair kisses for the first time...I will frame it, I'm not kidding. My bf will probably leave  
me over it -.-

**zackslacker18: **I'm so glad you and others like it! I'm having way too much fun writing it myself. My god, lol.

* * *

**Chapter 32: you remind me **

* * *

It became a routine between them, an arrangement with which Julian was quite happy but not completely satisfied. Some  
nights Laura came early, sat on his bed while he finished studying, making sarcastic comments to him till he shut her up;  
some nights she came only for the sleep, at one or two in the morning, waking him up—although he couldn't really sleep  
anyways; and then some nights she did not come at all. Those were the nights he hated; he lay awake in bed, wondering  
if she'd come soon.

She hadn't changed her attitude towards him in the daytime. He tried to influence her decisions about these sessions, tried  
to initiate them; he found, however, that she was beyond any methods of coaxing. Some nights he felt like going to _her_ room  
and begging her to let him stay, but he still retained some dignity.

He was almost giving up his daydreams about Sofia to think about Laura. This scared him, especially since Laura didn't seem  
to be changing her outlook towards him. She still hated him, she declared. And she still called him Keller, for the most part…  
except at night. In her sleep, she sometimes said his name, his first name, very softly. Which always gave him a thrill, though  
he didn't like to admit it.

She still would not kiss him, no matter how hard he tried. A few times he managed to kiss her in her sleep; he had to be very quiet,  
and careful; and above all, he had to fight the urge to fall asleep first. Laura tasted like an herb garden.

**…  
**

"Miss Kinney," Emma said, smiling at the girl in the seat before her. "May I call you 'Laura'? I do believe you are going to be a darling."

"Can I call you Silicon Valley?" Laura asked, mimicking her tone.

Emma Frost straightened in her seat. "Oh, dear, an angry one, are we? Don't worry…I understand. You'll find the staff at Xavier's to  
be _very_ understanding." She smiled again. "And the students. We are trying to make the development of gifts a _positive _experience."

"I'm not developing any gifts, so you don't have to make me 'positive'," Laura pointed out.

"We'll see about that."

**…**

"Oh, wow. You called her Silicon Valley? Dude, you are my hero!" Santo held his hand up for a high-five; Laura left him hanging,  
staring at him till he lowered his hand again. "Not cool," he grumbled.

Keller tensed beside her, his breath shortening and his pulse quickening. Laura looked to the side—Mantega was approaching their table.

"Julian, are you not going to introduce the new student to us?" she asked, smiling at Laura.

_Can't compete_ was the first thought to enter Laura's brain, even as she was wondering what she was competing over. Certainly not  
loudmouth Keller. She hated him, right? She looked down at her plate, confused, and hoping the potatoes would tell her the answer.

"I…uh…this is Laura…Laura Ke—"

"Kinney," Laura said firmly. She glanced at Keller out of the corner of her eye; she could have sworn he was just going to say his own last name.

Idiot.

"Nice to meet you, Laura," Sofia said, extending her hand.

Laura wanted to keep her hand still—she really did—but she found herself shaking hands with the other girl. God help her—she liked her.  
She liked the girl occupying such a large space of the head of the guy whom she was determined to hate. She was so confused.

"Are you a Hellion now?" Sofia asked.

"Yes," Laura said simply.

"Ah." Sofia smiled at Julian. "We will talk soon." And left.

**…**

Laura tried to force herself not to go to his room that night, but the urge was strong; at three o clock she finally gave in and rapped  
tentatively on his door. No answer. She decided to go outside; wrapping her coat around herself, she stepped onto the snow covered  
patio and looked into the night sky,

Her eyes found Keller's window, which was open.

_No_, her brain screamed at her.

_Yes,_ her growing addiction screamed back.

**…**

Crouching on his windowsill, chattering with cold, she clambered in, wondering that he didn't wake at the noise she was making. Normally  
she was much more silent, but the cold had stiffened her joints.

Her eyes studied his form, curled under the blanket in an almost fetal position.

"Sofia…" he said very softly in his sleep.

Disgusted, Laura turned around and slipped one bare thigh back through the window opening.

"Laura…"

She turned around, thinking he had called her, but he was still dreaming.

He was fidgeting now, twitching in a somewhat dog-like fashion. Her heart softened a small bit and she sat down on the edge of the bed,  
her hand reaching for his shoulder.

"Not going to let…I love…" he sighed.

Her hand jerked back as if she'd been burned. He blinked at the motion and sat up, rubbing his eye sleepily. "Laura? I don't remember letting you in…"

"You didn't," Laura said. How could she start chewing him out for something he'd said while asleep, when she'd basically been breaking and entering?  
She wasn't sure she wanted to touch on the topic yet, anyway. It was too fresh to be digested.

"How…" His eyes went to the open window, and Laura's flushed cheeks. "Get in," he said, rolling on his back and pulling aside the covers.

"Take your jacket off."

"Can't. I'm naked under it."

"So? Nothing I haven't seen before." He lifted the blanket a little more, and she flushed, seeing more than she wanted to; but she left the  
jacket slip off her shoulders to the floor, and wiggled in beside him.

He was so warm she couldn't resist.

**…**

That morning, Julian was surprised to wake up to his arms still full of Laura, after a whole month of evenings spent hoping this very event  
would take place. He tried to lie very still, hoping she wouldn't wake up; he wanted it to last as long as possible. It was a Saturday morning,  
so he had all day to wait. Fuck studying.

"I know you're awake," Laura mumbled into the pillow on her side. "I should go now. How am I going to get back to my room?"

"Don't go," he said into her neck. "Okay?"

"Keller—" Her eyes widened, she fell silent…and a few moments later…

A knock on his door. He almost cursed; Laura jumped out of the bed and ran for his bathroom like a frightened deer. Or perhaps a squirrel.  
He almost laughed at that thought, Laura as a squirrel. She did not turn on the light, but closed the door.

"Awright, I'm up, who is it?" he asked, scratching himself as he opened the door. No wonder Laura had run. Sofia was standing there, looking  
unusually good in a tank top and long coat with fuzzy collar (as opposed to her usually conservative garb, in respect to her strict Catholic upbringing).

"Julian…I thought we could do something, today," Sofia said, smiling shyly. "You have been asking me for a while…and now I am free, my essay is done."

_Oh, fuck _me, Julian thought. He was torn now—on one hand, a nearly naked Laura (she'd grabbed her coat in her flight) in his bathroom, who he  
might convince to stay; on the other, a Sofia that was dressed up and ready to hit the town. He cleared his throat; he hated making decisions on the spot.

"I…Sof…I've got shit I need to do today," he said, rubbing his neck. He figured whatever way out that produced the less angry female…

"Fine," Sofia said, flushing slightly.

"I'm sorry. I have two lab reports and a math exam next Monday," which was all true, except he wasn't going to worry about them today.

"Oh, okay." She looked a little less upset. "Another time then?"

"For sure," he grinned. He watched her go, then closed the door and turned around. Laura had one leg out the window. "Fuck no! I just turned her _  
down_ for you!" he growled, pulling her away mentally, then slamming the window shut. "You're not going anywhere, Miss Kinney."

Laura sat in a disheveled heap, looking confused. He knelt beside her and touched her chin gently, then he went for it: he kissed her.

She let him for a moment, then pushed him away.

"What are you doing?" she asked, glaring at him.

"You're sitting on my bedroom carpet, half-naked, and you just slept with me. And I just turned down my dream girl for you. You seem to put a lot  
into hating me, Laura…did you ever consider 'it's a fine line between love and hate'?"

"You're saying I love you now?" she asked, folding her knees against her chest. "I don't feel anything of the sort for you, Keller. You've made it all up  
to feed your bloated ego. I want to go to my room now, and shower, and enjoy my possessions."

"For the record, that's not what I was suggesting. I'll come with you." He offered his hand to her.

"I won't be seen with you, thanks," she said coldly. But she took his hand.

**…**

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Laura said. They were walking down the snowy road, towards the bus stop, still holding hands. Keller seemed happy;  
she had to admit, he looked perkier at this moment than he had for a while.

Overshadowing it all was déjà vu.

"Hey, you wanna fly instead?"

"Are we allowed to do that off-grounds?" Laura countered, but she was inwardly excited at the thought. The main reason she hadn't bawled him out for  
moving her with telekinesis before was she had found it exciting.

"It's my power," he scoffed, as if saying 'it's my car' or 'it's my money', or even 'it's my life'. This was always the kind of attitude that was rewarded with some  
kind of punishment, though, and Laura was torn. Punishment for her…but also punishment for Keller. _Hmmm._

"Catch is, you'll have to let me hold you," he said gravely. "I…I might let you go if it's just my brain, you see."

"That is not true," Laura yelled. "I see you braining people all the time."

"Braining. Huh, never thought of it that way," he said, grinning. "Well if _you_ want to fly on Keller Airlines, you have to follow regulations."

"Forget it, I'll walk," Laura said, waving her hand at him and trudging ahead. She was caught by surprise when he swept overhead and plucked her  
off the ground without warning; his flight was virtually soundless. Soon she found herself unable to fight, as she was a couple hundred feet in the air,  
and one agitating movement might cause her release.

"Not so bad, huh?" he asked.

**…**

"So, what we gonna do? What's your big plan for the time you finally squeezed out of me, huh?" Laura asked, looking around the city with an unimpressed  
aire. Her mother and her had come from Seattle, so she was used to city; not this much of it, but it still wasn't strange.

"I dunno. Uh, dinner?" Keller reached for her hand again; she avoided it. "Ugh, you're getting used to that. And no to dinner. How about you take me drinking?"

Keller shrugged. "Okay?"

_Sucker.  
_

**…**

"Oh, wow," Keller said, struggling to sit on his stool. "F…forty shots. I didn't…bring…where's my…car?"

"You don't have one," Laura replied, still almost perfectly sober. She knew what would fix it though. "You're going to buy me one more thing, aren't you,  
sweetie?" She had seen a bottle of something special sitting on the shelf behind the bartender, and knew she would be getting drunk today, which was  
rare for her, with her healing factor. It was 99 alcohol; most people couldn't handle more than a cupful. It was outlawed in ten states; she was thankful  
New York wasn't one of them.

But she didn't have any money.

She took Keller's hand and dragged him to the bar. "'Scuse me," she said to the lady wiping the table. "How much for that?" as she pointed to the bottle.

"I can't sell it to you," the woman said, blinking.

Laura gave Keller her best smile.

"Thousand…bucks," he said, slapping the money down on the table like it was a napkin. "It's fer my friend here…hehe…benefits." He nearly fell over.  
Laura whispered to him, and he took the bill back; after some struggling and coaxing, he produced a hundred-dollar bill.

"Alright," the woman said, lifting the small bottle over the counter. "You kids…be careful. I don't want to see on the news that you're dead."

"Don't worry…miss…ma'am…secret's…safe with me. Hey…single…much?" Keller squinted at the woman. Laura tucked the bottle under her jacket.

"C'mon," she said, linking her arm with Keller's.

**…**

Laura almost fell off the roof, giggling. It was midnight, and she didn't care. She was currently halfway through the bottle, and quite happy.

"You're…kinda pretty when you….otherwise…hey…does Sofia know?"

"Know…what?" Laura sat down, hard, on the roof beside Keller, where he was leaning on the chimney. She lost her balance and rolled into him,  
which made her even noisier. He put his hands on her shoulders when they'd finished their decent down the roof slope and were safely cradled  
in an angle. He'd landed underneath, with Laura straddled across his lap.

"Hi," she said, thinking it was odd that Keller had eight eyes. "OHMIGOD I think you're getting more power! You're like…Spider-man!"

"…HI!" he said back, waving vaguely in her direction, and not processing her comment.

"I…fuck this…hate everything here…" Laura said, wobbling slightly. "Bet…if the sperm thing was a lie…then I'm all lab…y'know?"

"You…think too much!" Keller said, trying to point at her. "Oh, hi…" he sat up slightly and kissed her sloppily. "Fuck…what…" Laura tried to grimace,  
but giggled instead. "OHMIGOD! My face…she's numb!"

"So I…yeah…'scuse me…" Keller grinned. "Sofia…won't know…right?"

"Fly by…her window!" Laura cackled. "Or…the headmasterer…"

Keller found this hilarious. "HAHAHA..I like…the way…you think too much!" He kissed her again. "Hey…so I said…"

"Huh?" Laura crawled up further and sat down on the wrong place. Or the right place. Minutes were occupied.

"Trying…to…Love…to tell you…"

She slapped him lightly, off-center, but this motion seemed to clear him enough to get out what he wanted to say. "I think…I love…you."

"Noooo!" Laura started giggling again. "Only…came with you…booze money…" she fell against his chest. "In Soviet Russia…vagina…eat you!"

They passed out laughing.


	4. 1: B2S 4:5 heartshaped box

**A/N: **Lalala...what a nice Saturday...I get to do _two_ lab reports, then physics, math and chemistry! YAY! Ooh a little note that I thought  
would be interesting: Julian and Laura's courses. They are in Bio 11, Chem 11, Phys 11, and CaPP 11 together, then Laura's taking  
English 11 and Julian is taking Math 10, as well as a little once-a-week psychic class that he's failing miserably, as always. Most of the  
courses they are doing are accurate as I am taking them myself right now (Math 11, Bio 12, Chem/Phys 11); I thought it would be fun  
to add some of my own life to the story. .

Oh and—Julian's behaviour in this chapter may seem a little surprising; his life will be elaborated on in the coming chapters. Although  
it's never explicitly mentioned, I think it could be assumed that he has some experience in this matter. I don't want to give much away,  
but I don't want it thought that it's out of character for him. It'll all make sense once you read a bit about his life X-D

* * *

** Chapter 33: heartshaped box **

* * *

"The hell," Laura groaned, pushing herself to her elbows. She was on the roof, and it had snowed during the night. Her front, though her  
jacket, shirt and bra were open down the front, was quite warm. She looked down.

"_You_," she said, scrambling to a sitting position. A mistake; she was still locked in place. Keller made a face. "Woah, good morning to you  
too. Is it still Saturday?"

"Sunday," Laura said, pulling away and doing up her clothes. "I wonder if anyone's missed us. Better hope your girlfriend didn't decide to  
go flying last night, could be the last you see of her. Ever."

Keller scrambled to do up his fly. "Uh."

Laura laughed. "Headache? This'll help." She lobbed a snowball at his head; he feebly defended himself. "Take us down. I've got to go  
shower and do shit."

Keller shook his head slowly. "Don't think I can. Head hurts too much."

"Bullshit," Laura said, stomping to the edge of the roof. "Catch me if you can." She flung herself off, arms stretched out at her side. Keller  
turned pale; he scrambled to the edge of the roof and desperately swept Laura up before she hit the ground and broke all her bones.  
"Jesus Christ!" he said, lowering himself down. "Are you stupid, Laura? What if I couldn't have caught you?"

Laura shrugged. "I don't really care one way or the other, Keller." She dusted her clothes off. "Remember…don't tell anyone about this…  
or I'll dismember you." She paused and grinned. "You weren't as lousy a drunk as I thought you might be. Don't ever tell anyone I said that,  
or I'll take it right back." She grinned at Keller, then left, laughing at his expression.

**…**

"So…are you busy _now?_"

Julian dropped half of his books, startled. Sofia was standing behind him, a bag on her shoulder, wearing a shy smile.

"Oh! Hi!" he said awkwardly, his face a bit red. "Uh—actually, yes. Wait—I mean no." Sofia laughed. "Sorry, it's been a tough week.  
I'm failing a course."

"No!" Sofia said sympathetically. "Which one?"

"Telepathy. I hope Professor Xavier doesn't take all sorts of credits off me for it…I _told_ him I don't hear voices." He shrugged and picked  
up the books mentally, restacking them neatly in the same order they'd been before.

"This is unusual…you've been turning me down for a year…then all of a sudden, you seek me out…what made you change your mind?"  
Julian asked for conversation. He was curious, but he didn't really care all that much. He didn't like to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Sofia flushed. "Well—as I told you before, I _like_ you, Julian. It is not that…it is just that you act so differently around your friends, and mine.  
Lately…it seems like you have begun to cool down a bit."

Julian shrugged. In all truth, he hadn't had any sarcasm left for anyone else after Laura and her acidic company. She wore him out, left him  
feeling that if there was ever a comment to be made about another person, she'd probably already covered it. If he tried to open his mouth  
at lunch to badmouth the other students, she outdid him, and then made him look stupid, too.

She made other people laugh at him. He still couldn't figure out just _what_ kept him coming back to her.

"Coffee?" Sofia asked, surprising him by slipping her arm through his.

"Sure," he said happily.

**…  
**

Laura was sitting in her room, staring at the pile of assignments. She didn't feel like touching them now—she'd already endured a day of class,  
sitting for hours on end in a roomful of ripe-smelling students who were loud and unpleasant to look at. She'd met with Emma again, who had  
forced her to inform her of her codename; and whom had revealed a uniform for her to wear. Laura knew that she would not be wearing it for  
the first Hellions practice tomorrow; it was red, and revealed skin in the wrong places…and looked gay. She'd sabotaged it as soon as she  
reached her room, having at it with her claws until it was nothing but red ribbons. She wondered if Emma would be sadistic enough to make  
her practice naked—she wouldn't put it past her. _Alpha bitch,_ Laura thought of her.

She'd also seen Keller leave the school with Mantega holding his arm. She felt something; she didn't know what it was, but it disturbed  
something in her and turned her already irritated mood just rotten. She tried to ignore it—she hated Keller anyway, even if he made an  
agreeable drinking companion (who paid for the drinks); that arrangement wouldn't necessarily end even if Mantega staked her claim.  
Laura realized she was being very territorial, in some small part of her brain, but it was the way she tended to think. Territories. It had  
something to do with her sense of smell; then again, she had never tried to figure it out, because it was a subconscious way of thinking.

The other arrangement…that would end, though. Laura normally did not even go near the strange nighttime habit she had of sleeping with  
the guy she thought was a heel. She didn't understand the exceptions she kept making to allow him in her life, so she naturally avoided  
what did not make sense. But here, now, knowing at this moment, Mantega was about to change the rules…Laura acknowledged she  
was going to lose visiting rights, and that added to her bad mood. Thinking about it, she realized the strangest of her dreams did not  
bother her as much in his bed.

**…  
**

Emma Frost frowned, looking directly at the newest addition to her squad of hand-picked students. Although she was standing in line with  
her teammates, she was, quite distinctly, not wearing the outfit provided. Not at all. She was dressed in some strange outfit from her own  
clothing—a tank top and pants, out of black leatherish material (it couldn't be real) and her combat boots. Her hair was loose, despite Emma's  
recommendation that long hair be tied back for the first stages of practice combat. Mercury had complied, Dust didn't have to worry about it  
(beneath her niqab); but Laura…

"Miss Kinney," she said. Hellion glanced down the line nervously. He'd seen Ms. Frost get pissed off before, and it didn't end nicely for the student.  
"This is a team. Please show your team spirit by wearing your uniform, or I will knock points off the squad. Yes, my own squad."

Laura gasped.

"Ohmigod, no!" she said. Julian closed his eyes. _You invited her,_ some unhelpful part of his mind reminded him.

"Miss Kinney." Emma tried to stare her down. Laura stared right back, unblinking.

"Should I call you sir? Or are we pretending that the sex-change operation was a success? I wouldn't want to hurt your feelings." Laura tilted her  
head. "I'm just kidding about the last part, it's okay if I hurt you…sir."

**…  
**

"Laura…" Keller rubbed his face. They were sitting in Scott's office, waiting for the headmaster to arrive. Frost had forced him to accompany Laura,  
telling him he was responsible for her disgraceful behavior, and would also be in charge of correcting it…or his squad would fail.

"Keller," she said calmly. "Nice office, no? Too bad you're in it, you clash with the décor. I think it's your face."

"Laura, please…I've worked really, _really_ hard to get the team to were it is. I want us to win…we're trying to beat the New Mutants, you know."  
He watched her hopefully, in the vague chance that she would cooperate in her mutual hatred.

"So don't fraternize with the enemy," she said, looking away.

Keller paled. "Laura—this isn't about Sof, is it? I—"

"Save your excuses," she said. At that moment the office door opened with a click, and in walked Mrs. Grey-Summers, smiling kindly. Laura felt a  
small wave of repentance…she didn't dislike the redheaded woman as much as most of the other people here, for some reason. Maybe it was  
because she was beginning to respect Logan, and he in turn respected Jean.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Kinney. Can I call you Laura?" Mrs. Grey-Summers asked.

"Sure," Laura said.

"Julian," the lady said in greeting. It was obvious that they had conversed before.

"Mr. Summers has sent me to speak with you, Laura," Mrs. Grey-Summers said, in her gentle manner. "I'm sure you know why you are here."

"I called Emma Frost a she-male," Laura said, her chin raised defiantly.

Mrs. Grey-Summers allowed herself to smile. "I'm sure she took that well."

Keller looked down. It _was_ funny—but he was too mortified by the thought of Laura putting them into negative points before the term had even started—  
to comment. Emma had been furious—volatile—she'd turned to diamond form, grabbed Laura by the ear, and hauled her towards the Headmaster's office,  
her voice rising and falling in angry words.

"She was upset," Laura said flatly. "I understand. Her surgeon did a terrible job. She has to stand in that odd way so she can keep it back."

"Laura…stop," Julian moaned.

"What you are saying is amusing…" Mrs. Grey-Summers said, looking at Laura directly in the eyes. "…but at the same time, it hurts Ms. Frost's feelings. For  
any shortcomings she may have, she has put much effort into the Xavier Institute, and proved well worth her place here." The lady paused. "Logan would  
not like to hear that you have misbehaved."

Laura straightened up. "Logan doesn't care."

"Oh, I care, kid," Logan said, catching Laura by surprise. She'd been so focused on the headmistress that she hadn't noticed him enter the room. "I'm gonna  
hear Emma bitch for weeks about this. You learn to keep yer little trap shut or I'm gonna have to shut it for ya."

Laura looked down. "Okay." She was furious with herself, but she never found the ability within herself to be belligerent to Wolverine. Except for when she'd  
found out she was a clone—pure anger had put her far beyond any sort of intimidation.

"What would your mother think?" he continued.

Laura closed her eyes with a strained expression. "I don't have a mother," she said between clenched teeth. She was angry now, she had to get away.

Keller watched, amazed. He wouldn't have imagined it possible for Laura to be cowed so easily. Then again, he himself was apprehensive about agitating  
Mr. Logan. It must be terrible to be his clone.

**…  
**

"Is this about Sofia?"

Keller had grabbed her by the wrist as she turned to disappear down the hallway, wondering how she could drown her humiliation. Probably a good bleeding.  
She'd get towels, to save their precious Persian rug—she could imagine Summers calling her into his office to berate her for bleeding on his carpet.

"Leave me alone," Laura mumbled, not looking at him. She did a simple whirling move with her arm to free it from his grasp.

"Answer me," Keller demanded.

"I don't want to!" Laura yelled. "Why can't you just leave me _alone?_ I hate you, I don't care who you're with! Not everything is about you! Go bug her."  
She stomped off, Keller staying behind to watch.

When she reached her room, she closed the door and stood with her back to it for a while, just shaking. A few moments later, a tear rolled down her cheek,  
and she felt angry for it. She scrambled over the bed, sat cross-legged on the floor and made a fist. The claws slid out, almost without her twitching the muscles,  
and she jammed them into her wrist so far the tip came out the other side. She winced; too deep. She withdrew it slightly as she dragged it up. The blood pooled  
on her lap, sticky and iron-scented.

She tensed suddenly; the door had creaked open. She twisted around; Keller was watching her with one wide blue eye. "Laura?"

"DON'T!" she yelled, but he pushed the door the rest of the way open and entered her room, letting it swing shut behind him. "What're you…oh."

He stood and stared at her. Yes, she had gotten blood on the rug. She felt light-headed for a moment. "So," she smiled a little too brightly. "You going to tell me how  
unhealthy this is for me? 'Laura—oh, god, what are you doing? Why are you hurting yourself? How could you _do_ shit like this?'" She waited patiently for his response,  
her claws slicing through her skin. She rotated her forearm and drew them in circles over her wrist.

"You seem to know what you're doing," he said instead, sinking down beside her and watching curiously. "Does it hurt a lot?"

"The ends justify the means," Laura said mysteriously, her smile fading, but the corners of her lips were still turned up, and her dark, dilated eyes were trained  
on him from behind her curtain of hair.

He took her by surprise with his next action. Keller stretched out his arm to her and turned it over, exposing the wrist.

"Do me," he said.

"What?" Laura stopped her motions, amazed. This was far from the reaction she had expected from him. "You'll die. You don't heal."

"Well, don't kill me, then, stupid," Keller snorted, moving closer so his side was pressed up against hers, and his arm pressed against her knee.  
"Take a break from yourself, you heard me. I trust you."

Laura took the offered arm with suspicion. It had to be a trap—she _had _just treated him pretty badly, without a care in the world. And how could he know that the  
part about bleeding she craved, needed, was not as much the pain as it was the control? Tentatively but unable to resist, she drew her claw very lightly across his  
soft skin, leaving a slight red line.

**…  
**

"Julian! What happened to your arm?"

Cessily was examining the red scrapes with a concerned look. Nothing had penetrated deeply, but they still looked angry. He lowered his hand under the table top, out of view.

"I fell down some stairs," he said unconvincingly.

"Were you trying to tango with a rake at the time?" Santo grunted.

"How did you know? It's awesome practice." Julian grinned, hoping the table wouldn't go nuts about this slight slip. He hadn't meant to let anyone see his arm till it was healed.

"Dude. The extendable rake is totally mine, then. I might take it to the dance."

Laura watched Keller, her head tilted. She realized she was reevaluating him; he'd taken her by surprise with his reaction. It was pretty heavy to realize someone cut; unless  
they were a cutter themselves. Yet she didn't see Keller self-mutilating…he was too self-assured.

"Dance?" Cessily asked, perking up.

"Didn't you hear? This Friday, informal. More of a party. It's not an official school thing, so it'll actually be good," Santo grinned.

"How do you know about this, and not me?" Cessily demanded.

Santo shrugged.

The quiet boy in the trench coat was also watching Keller with an appreciating gaze. He looked like he could be a cutter, or at least know what the patterns looked like. Laura  
read the body language at the table like a book, glancing around at the others and taking in their postures, tones and facial expressions.

"Are you going?" Cessily asked Keller.

"Probably," he said easily. His eyes faded; Laura knew—_knew_—he was looking at Sofia. She stood up, her lunch no longer appealing for some odd reason. "Excuse me," she said.

"Aww, little Miss Goth-wannabe got no date?" Santo asked mockingly.

"Actually, since you asked, I've got to use the can. I don't think the two quesadillas I ate are sitting well at all. I can hear them churning and churning and I'm getting the shit  
sweats. It's going to be a big one. So, yes, excuse me." She left quickly.

Behind her, Keller choked on his food and started laughing.

**…  
**

There was a knock on Laura's door later that night.

"Yes?" She opened the door shortly after her verbal response, already knowing who it was. Keller had his hands in his pockets.

"Laura…"

"No," she said, beginning to shut the door again. He put his foot in-between the closing panel and the frame, then leaned in. "First off…ouch. I came to ask you…  
come sleep with me tonight. Wait, I'm not asking, I'm telling."

Laura raised her eyebrow. He caught her hand. "Second….I want you to come with me…to this little party thing. It'd be good for you to meet some people…you  
can be my arm candy." He grinned at her. To her horror, she realized she was thinking he looked kind of cute, the way his cheeks dimpled, and his eyes crinkled  
at the corners.

"Let me guess…Sofia said no," she said coldly.

Julian looked down. "Laura…I'm confused…I like both of you…but no, I didn't ask Sofia, I asked you." He kissed her hair, and she flushed and shook her head,  
like a cat with an itchy ear.

"Keller…I…"

"C'mon," he said, pulling her out of her room and turning off the light. "You can make the decision in my bed."


	5. 1: B2S 5:5 frustration

**A/N: **Uploading again, yep. Don't worry about me...the labs are being done. It's the weekend and there are plenty of chapters written ahead so hehe. Also I wanted to respond to a review...

**Laura K. Howlett: **__

With them already having "experience" with one another, and now with what  
Julian asked her to do...am I sensing what may become a play on her role in  
NYX?  
Hmm, interesting. Didn't even make that connection. But no, that was just Julian not being such an asshole and going  
against her expectations. It was for her...he might have done it in the past when things weren't so good for him but  
I'd say he's in a state of relative equilibrium at the moment. It's Laura who's a bit...unbalanced...lol.

_Speaking of NYX, I felt I should just say this, 8-31-08 is my one year mark  
of reading comics (97 still only x-men today)I stared out with the NYX/X-23  
HC, I never knew comics could be so graphically violent. Now I'm addicted to  
X-Force (go figure) anywho, I've actually decided to honor that day by going  
out as X-23. _Hahaha, awesome! I've actually been considering dressing up as Laura myself if I have the time...I was  
inspired by her appearance to dye my own hair black (it was one of the influences I admit). It looks awesome I think,  
I put my pic on my author profile and a bit more about myself. I found a cool website on making the claws...go on  
google and type in "how to make wolverine claws", there's a step-by-step tutorial with pictures. If not this year, I  
will DEFINITELY do it next year.

_Also, do you listen to podcasts? google uncanny x-cast. It's the best. I'm  
also on the forum part of it with the same signature. _Actually, I've never listened to a podcast in my life, I'll check it out.  
I'm more the iTunes person who exhausts the same artists over and over at full volume. I 3 NiN. But I will probably  
join the forum, I love talking about my fave characters.

* * *

** Chapter 34: frustration **

* * *

"Alright. This did not start out so well last time." Emma Frost paused, her hands on her hips, her eyes trained on Laura, who was now dressed in the  
disgusting burgundy uniform, conforming to team law. "But perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. Let us try again."

Laura looked down at the ground, willing herself not to say anything. She continued to do so until Emma was finished, and Keller stepped up to begin  
giving orders. She found it strange; only morning, she'd been in his arms, naked and listening to his heartbeat, and now he was so far away. He paused  
in front of her.

"X-23…"

"Since she is new, I suggest she keeps to the wall and does not participate," Emma broke in. "You may, otherwise, continue."

Laura shrugged as Keller met her eyes; she didn't care.

She took her place as the team's wallflower, watching as robots were synthesized by the computers. They began to attack her teammates, and they,  
in turn, took up defense in the pattern decided beforehand. Keller was in the air, occasionally shouting orders that sounded like he was speaking alien.

Laura checked her watch, bored.

Suddenly, the small hairs on her arm bristled. She looked to the side; a robot was approaching her silently, its weapons level to her head. "Oh, hello,"  
she said, popping her claws. An energy beam hit the ground where her feet had been just a moment before; she somersaulted over its head with agility  
she did not realize she possessed, her claws jamming up to her knuckles into the headpiece of the robot and cutting. She landed and whirled around;  
something had to be wrong. There were suddenly two robots waiting for her to deal with them, their sightless eyes staring at her creepily.

"Shit!" She dodged a spray of razors from some weird rail gun machine one of the robots was holding. "What the hell? Auugh!" One of the robots grabbed  
her arm at the wrist and twisted it behind her back viciously; she swung her leg all the way behind her head instinctively, and something completely new  
to her happened.

A foot claw popped out and severed the robot's programming chip.

Laura didn't know where the instinct for her moves was coming from, but it was like nothing could touch her; she was moving at least five times her normal  
speed. There were three robots now, taking place of the ones that she'd defeated. She glanced at the control room; Emma had to be behind this.

She clenched her fists.

Keller pivoted in mid-air and began heading towards her, frowning.

_Do not assist her,_ Emma said coolly into his mind. _I am merely testing X-23's capabilities under pressure._

He made a face, thinking that Frost had certainly been a lot fairer with his test. He'd known just what to expect—_and_ he'd only had to take down one robot.  
But Frost had given her orders: leave it alone. He turned his back on Laura.

"Keller? What the fuck!" She cried out as a robot swung a huge metal hammer-type object into her stomach, and blood rolled down her chin.

"Sorry, Frost," Keller murmured, his face pale. He landed, blew the robot to the side, then ran towards Laura, his hands curling protectively  
around her shoulders.

"Laura—I mean—X, you okay?"

She wiped the blood off her chin, not looking at him.

"I'll be fine," she ground out. "Don't think I'm going to like Emma much, though."

The other team members had wandered over, and Emma ended the program with a sneer, then hurried onto the Danger Room platform, her expression cold.  
"Hellion. You distinctly disobeyed my orders. You _knew_ there would be a test for Laura's response, you were not to become involved. I advise you not to allow  
sexual frustration to distract you from your duties."

Keller flushed, his hands still on Laura's shoulders. To their credit, none of the team members laughed; even Santo did not smile. Frost left abruptly, with a last  
parting note that Keller would see her _alone_ in her office in two hours' time.

**...  
**

"I'm sorry, Laura. She gets…bitchy sometimes, for no reason."

"She had a reason. You disobeyed orders." Laura turned her back to Keller, moving into the girls' locker room. He followed her, unconcerned; the others had finished  
and left over half an hour ago.

"I don't know what to say. She told me there would be a test…I'm not allowed to warn anyone about the tests…everyone has to go through one. I didn't know it  
would be so harsh, though." He rubbed his neck, leaning against the row of lockers. "If you feel like being mad at me, please consider that I did go against her  
when I saw you get hurt."

"Hrrn," Laura grunted, pulling off her red tank top. "If I feel like being mad. Still desperate to get me to go out with you, in public, huh?  
That darned sexual frustration."

"What frustration?" Keller said smoothly. "I got off twice this morning. I am standing in the girl's locker room, after all…watching you undress."

"Jerk," Laura said, slamming the locker. "Leave, then, if you're going to get smug about it. It's still a no."

"I saved your life!" he protested.

"No you didn't," Laura laughed, pulling out her towel. She threw her bra at him, still grinning. "Since you're in the girl's room…does that make you a girl?"

"Go take your fucking shower," he said, grabbing her shoulders and steering her towards the stalls. "Sir, yessir, sorry sir," she said as he pushed her into one;  
she suddenly eluded his grasp, ducked and turned the water handle to 'cold'.

"Argh!" he yelped, jumping back as it soaked his front and his hair. She laughed, turning it to hot and leaning into the spray. "You looked like you needed a cold  
shower, with all the 'sexual frustration' you're experiencing," she said.

He ripped his top off and threw it to the side, then ventured back into the stall. "For hating me so thoroughly, you sure do flirt with me a lot," he said quietly in  
her ear. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Someone told me 'it's a thin line between love and hate'," she said. "Besides…I'd rather keep my arch nemesis where  
I can see him."

"I'm fine with that…means I can be right here." He touched her cheek lightly with his fingers, running them down her jaw. "That's so cheesy," she said, but she  
didn't stop him from kissing her.

**…  
**

Laura sat in the big office, feeling nervous. She'd been good—she hadn't insulted anyone too terribly in the last week—why did Mrs. Grey-Summers want to  
see her? She hated to say it, but at the moment, she'd rather be here than home with her mother…after the whole clone thing, she didn't think she could  
ever look her in the eye again for anger.

And the whole Keller thing. She hated to admit that too—she didn't know what was going on. She'd never really been interested in boys before—sure, she'd  
had sex; sure, she'd noticed when a hot guy walked by—but unlike other girls, she didn't long for a connection. It just tied her down.

She was afraid this was going to tie her down, though. And at first glance, she couldn't forgive herself for even speaking to someone with such a self-inflated  
ego. She hated to admit there was anything more to him than she'd decided that time he yelled back at her on the field and been ready to fight her.

The door opened.

"Laura," Mrs. Grey-Summers said. "Don't worry. Give me a moment to explain why I brought you here before you do." She smiled; Laura relaxed, as it was  
impossible to stay on edge. The headmistress closed the door and drifted to the seat on the other side of the desk.

"Do you know anything about the Phoenix, Laura?"

She shook her head. "What's a phoenix?"

The walls of the room evaporated, and suddenly Laura was sitting on what seemed to be air, but was far more comfortable. A drink was in her hands;  
she felt relaxed and peaceful. Mrs. Grey-Summers was still smiling at her.

"You can call me Jean," the headmistress said. "I'm going to tell you a little story, and then you can tell me what you think, Laura. Okay?"

"Okay," Laura said, taking a sip of her drink.

Jean raised her fingers; a large, panoramic scene faded into view, absorbing Laura's attention. It was kind of like a giant movie screen.

**…  
**

"Billions and billions of years ago, there was only dust."

Laura was staring into blackness. Every now and then, a small sparkle caught her eye; dust, glinting like fireflies. _How can it reflect if there is no light? _  
She wondered. Jean smiled.

Presently, her question was answered. Dust particles struck each other, causing sparks. An enormous spark suddenly occurred, to Laura's left; it burst  
into a flame. _But there's no oxygen._ It twisted up; like fire climbing a pole wrapped in a candle wick, slowly and lazily and deliberately. It was humanoid;  
flaming hair and skin. Smoking black eyes. Laura watched on, amazed.

"This spark was a sentient being. For another few billion years, it had no name. It was pure energy; pure will, pure thought. No biological brain could ever  
hope to equal it. It was as a God…without the mythology. It was merely science's finest creation."

Jean paused, watching the being too. She had a wistful look. Laura noted that she stood in the empty space, not requiring a chair.

"It got lonely. After endless times of searching, it decided to create its own company." Jean tilted her head; Laura watched, overwhelmed, as the being  
created a galaxy, leaving a flaming trail behind its flight. _Could it be called flight without air? _Laura briefly imagined writing a lab report on this being and  
felt an urge to vomit.

"For a while it watched, kindling life. The Sun. Pets, animals." Jean seemed to caress the darkness; the Sun formed on her hand (or behind it); on the  
other, a planet grew. Earth. Somehow, Laura saw she was talking about dinosaurs. "It grew tired. Knowing life would not survive without its care, it  
attempted to terminate it." The Earth-like-globe was struck by a meteor. Laura sat back; it looked so real.

"It left to create more life, on distant planets. When it returned, happening this way again, four billion years later…it was tired, weary…and though it  
sounds odd, near death."

Jean pushed her hair back from her face. "As it flamed past the planet, a falling comet, it heard a strong plea for help…a call. It was astonished to find  
that the life it had created…had persevered." Jean smiled again. "Things were different now. Its pets were gone…the planet filled with strange creatures.  
Much to its surprise…there were beings that almost resembled itself; really, it was a part of every living thing, but some creatures had retained it more  
than others."

She made a fist.

"It decided to become involved, once again, with what it had left. Its creatures needed help—it became an inheritance. It split itself amongst a thousand  
psionically gifted creatures, 'marking' them as potentials. The largest piece was passed on from creature to creature; one out of every generation, ever  
after, was chosen as a host. It would—till its biological death—possess the great power of this force, in exchange for the responsibilities of protecting its  
world, and the galaxy. And then the next being would inherit it."

Jean turned to Laura. "Do you understand what the Phoenix is now?"

"This wasn't a story, was it?" She asked in response, getting to her feet. "You are the Phoenix."

"Clever girl," Jean said calmly. The surroundings faded; Laura was back in the office, with Jean seated across the desk from her.

"Why tell me, though?" Laura asked, putting down the drink (which had somehow remained in her hand).

"Because, that day in my office, when you had upset Emma—forgive my indiscretion, but I smelled the Phoenix on you."

Laura's eyes widened. "What—but I'm not psychic."

Jean tilted her head. "No. You are not the Phoenix yourself. But you…your thoughts have been touched, altered by a force. My force. I am the only living  
Phoenix to this day…but it was not me who altered them." Jean frowned. "And it was recent. I am curious."

"Yes," Laura said.

"I wanted to talk to you, Laura…I wanted to ask you…" Jean leaned over the desk. "Would you let me find out?"

Laura stiffened. Let her into her mind?

"It would not hurt."

"Okay," Laura said, surprised at her own ease. She didn't know Jean—why did she trust her so readily? But she was closing her eyes—suddenly she  
was in a golden room, touching walls, feeling light.

"Yes…I feel something…I knew it," Jean said, also there. "It's concealed. It's like a watermark on paper, a small signature. But it's so well hidden that  
I will have to riffle through your memories to find it."

A decade or a moment later, Laura and Jean opened their eyes at the same time. The redheaded woman tilted her head to the side. "Oh. I see. I am  
sorry, Laura; I will need you to come back another time. There is someone I must speak with first; then we will get to the bottom of this."

She smiled again, and Laura was happy.


	6. 2: V for Violation 1:6 vandalization

**A/N: **Here starts a new arc! I was so pleased when this arc title came to me...it's a big event for the characters and shapes the story...and I wanted it to be meaningful.  
You might take a wild guess at where I got the idea from, lol. Also, I finally decided on the name of this volume: Another Version of the Truth (one of my fave NiN songs).

It's just perfect, I think. Enjoy!

**A/N x 2: **Just wanted to point out that you may recognize a few tiny points in this story occasionally using cool elements from X-men the movie(s).

**Nunya: **...wow! so touching! THANK YOU!! X-D I am glad that other people like reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. I doubt I will lose interest...there's  
just too much I can do with this comic.

* * *

**Arc 2: V for Violation**

* * *

**Chapter 35: vandalization**

"After the week I've had, I'm going drinking," Laura said flatly. "You can come or not, your choice."

"So I'm allowed to be seen with you now?" Keller asked, his hands in his pockets.

"Oh wow. I'm so honored—"

"Save it," Laura said, zipping up her belly jacket.

"You'll get cold," he said, putting his hands on the bare strip of skin between the jacket's hem and her low-rise jeans.

She smacked him away irritably.

"Come on, jeez," he said, backing up as she popped her claws. "Hands off, Keller. I'm not interested in what I can do for you—  
only in what _you_ can do for _me._" She made a finger-rubbing gesture under his nose. "You may have heard, I'm at odds with my  
mother. And I'm not about to ask Wolverine for beer money."

"You have a funny way of getting on my good side," Keller sneered. "Any reason you're so hormonal tonight?"

Laura looked away.

A reason came to mind.

"Fuck, you saw that?" he asked, rubbing his neck. He'd spoken with Sofia today—and then she'd leaned over, kissed him lightly  
(not that he'd resisted)—and asked him to go with her to the stupid thing he'd been bugging Laura about for a week. He'd said  
yes—he didn't see Laura giving in anytime soon.

"See what?" Laura asked quietly. "Coming or not?"

**…  
**

Stumbling home drunk seemed to be a bad idea. Or so Laura thought when she came to in a small, very dimly lit, white-tiled cell.  
The floor was cold cement, and she was stripped of clothing; shivering, and wondering why her head hurt . And just where she was.  
And who that was in the corner. She turned her head and blinked; was that really Keller? He hadn't woken up yet; he was covered in  
bruises, and dirt. She scooted over to him and slid her fingers into his mussed-up hair; he looked so innocent when he slept. It had to  
be the thick eyelashes.

"…hrm," he sighed, curling closer to her. Laura drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them. Yup, they were in a mess.

"Laura?" he asked a moment later, his head raising slightly. He looked like he was in pain. A bruise had formed along his cheekbone.

"Don't try to move until you know how badly you're hurt," Laura advised.

He looked at the floor, confused. Then…

"Where are my clothes?"

"Probably wherever our dignity went," Laura said calmly. "Does your ass hurt or anything? First way to tell."

"Laura!" He sat straight up. "You suck. This has to be some sort of mutant experiment thing. U-men, probably." He rubbed his neck.  
"Yeah. Should be a cinch to get out then…" he pointed his finger at the wall, and then realized there was no door. "Uh…what the fuck?"

Laura shrugged. "Guess we bust out way through."

"Mhmm." He continued to point at the wall, then hung his head. "I…I can't get it up."

Laura rounded on him. "Oh, god, Keller, you're pathetic. I assume you're talking about the head on the upper story, because the _lower one_  
seems to be having no problem."

He flushed. "Laura…"

"Not here," she snapped. "You make it work. If it's some wonky blood problem, be aware that I won't hesitate to eat you should we begin  
to starve. Or if I feel a tad peckish." Her claws slid out in anger; she winced. "Holy!"

They both stared at her hand. The knuckle wounds were staying open around her claws, instead of forming healed-over flaps like they always did.  
She sucked her claws back in, and the bloody gashes remained.

"Auhhh…" she moaned, holding her wrist.

"That's what I was getting at…" Keller said, looking unhappy about being right, which must have been a first for him. He looked around the cell,  
trying to see through the shadows. "Shit…no way I can make it better, either."

She made a sniffling noise. "Never you mind, I've had worse." She stood up and slowly felt around the cell, dripping blood; finally she returned  
to the corner and sat down again, her head in her hands.

"Keller…" she whispered. "Oh, we're so fucked now."

"Shhh…" he pulled her against his chest and laid his cheek against her neck. "The X-men will find us…they have two telepaths. They won't  
let us…umm…slip away that easy." He closed his eyes.

"Guess we're gonna miss the dance, huh?" he asked.

"That was a truly pathetic attempt at humor," Laura sniffled.

They stayed like that for a long time.

**…  
**

For days, nothing happened. There was no food, no water, no light, no heat; nothing but a divot in the floor they'd discovered to do business in.  
They began to suffer delusions; their stomachs had stopped hurting about a day before they hit the point of hallucinations.

"Will have to eat soon," Laura told him with red-rimmed eyes. "Should I expire, feel free." She had begun to speak in an odd, disjointed manner.

"Laura…no. Never." Keller leaned back against the wall; he looked a lot thinner than before, with a gaunt, drawn face. He ran his fingers over  
her cheek. "I don't know if you know this…but…I…"

"No!" Laura said fiercely. "If you say it, it makes it _real_. Two halves must not fuse."

Later…

"We could end it. I have weapons in my arms…and my feet…claws…two claws, inserted into the solar plexus, dragged upwards…vital organs…  
through the heart…the heart or the head, Keller." She hugged her knees.

He watched her with empty eyes.

"Why don't you ever call me by my first name?" he asked. "Did you forget it?"

"No," Laura said. "Julian Patrick Keller. Born April 12, 1988. Eyes blue, hair black. 5'11, approximately 72.5747792 kilograms (or 160 lbs.). Parents  
William Keller, Elizabeth Keller, one brother, James Keller. Whereabouts unknown. Enough information?"

"I never told you anything but my first and last name," he said. There was too much depth of information to consider in Laura's sentence, so he  
picked the simplest. "How'd you find the rest? You snitch some school files? And you fail, my family's in California."

"Oh," Laura said, closing her eyes. "No. I just know."

Julian felt a chill creep down his back. "I thought you weren't psychic."

Laura looked down. "And I thought you're not a precog," she reminded him.

**…  
**

"Rise and shine, X!"

Laura awoke with a squawk to a choke-hold. She was slammed against the tiles, while Julian scrambled to her defense. Her eyes fluttering open,  
she found her attacker was a woman—she felt an unreasonable thrill of fear. It was frightening to be in a chokehold, but she felt like all her life,  
she'd feared and hated this woman, and wished her harm. And there was the fact that she flicked Julian away with a finger so hard he broke  
a few tiles on his landing.

Granted, he wasn't at his strongest, but he was not a weakling.

She almost blacked out on that thought.

"I'm disappointed, X!" the woman said, banging her head into the wall. "Oho, right…no healing factor. Oh, damn, that means I can't kill you!  
And I was _so_ looking forwards to it. Maybe I should do it anyway and keep your pretty boyfriend over there as a trophy, no?"

Laura's claws slid out, painfully, agonizingly. She put them to the woman's throat. "He's not my boyfriend," she hissed. "Release me or I'll do it, I swear."

The woman laughed, grabbed Laura's hand, and purposely jammed it against her throat. Laura cried out in pain as her claws jarred against her  
injured wrist; they refused to penetrate her skin.

"Miss me?" the woman said, slapping Laura. Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, and she fell to the floor, rubbing her cheek.

"You make me sick." The woman stepped on her injured hand, raised her other one, and pressed a spot in her wrist. Amidst Laura's agonized  
cries of pain, her claws slid out against her will.

"No!" Julian was shouting, just coming to. He scrambled to the woman and tried to knock her off balance, but it didn't work, and the woman…the  
woman wrapped her bare fingers around Laura's claws and _tore them out. _That's when Laura's eyes finally rolled back in her head, and she went  
somewhere else for a while.

**…  
**

When she came back, she was lying on a surgical table, surrounded by bubbling water, and men in masks. Lines were drawn up and down her skin,  
a mask was plastered to her face, a tool was being withdrawn from her body, a private area…no. Laura shot out of the water with the same eerie  
grace that had come to her in the Danger Room; claws flying, hair like the wind, but this time she was playing with flesh, not metal. Sickening _slish _  
of limbs being sliced through and then the gentle thuds as they hit the floor, Laura fought her way out.

She made it as far as the hallway.

"And then there was me," the woman said, grinning through the door window at her. "Thank God, huh, X?"

"Thank God for chemicals," Laura replied, smashing two test tubes she'd seized together. The result was a small chemical explosion which she  
flung in the woman's face.

"ARRRGH! You bitch!" The woman grinned, rubbing her eyes. "You know what they're doing to your boyfriend? Well, they're gonna make him just like  
that sick freak _Martha _at your school."

Laura's eyes widened. Martha was a brain in a glass case with anti-gravity floats for movement.

"Fuck that," she said, jumping over a gurney and sending it smashing into the woman's thighs. She ran back through the room, searching for something—  
anything—she could use as a weapon. _How _do_ you hurt someone who's invincible? _she wondered. And then her eyes fell upon it—a gas-station like pump  
in the middle of the room. Close to the tank she'd broken out of.

She had to draw the crazy woman to it first. Which wasn't all that hard; she was like the hare in front of the greyhound; the mouse before the cat.

She knocked over a tray of surgical instruments. She couldn't make her intentions too obvious.

"Come here…" The woman growled as Laura dodged back and forth around the stand, feinting. She suddenly lunged forwards, pump in hand, and landed on  
the woman, piggy back. "Dinner is served," she hissed, shoving the pump down her throat and pulling the trigger. "I wonder what it is."

It had to be nasty. The woman made a choking sound, staggering to the side. "Wha…" she tried to pull the gun from her throat, but it was lodged in place.  
Laura plugged her ears to block out the horrible noises the woman was beginning to make. She fell to her knees…and a bead of silvery liquid suddenly  
leaked out of the corner of her mouth.

After a moment of considering the grossness of the situation, Laura ran for the hallway, her bare feet slapping on the floor, tearing electrodes from her body.  
She was still covered in ink, an almost tattoo like pattern, showing where she was to be cut open.

She had to find Keller, now. And a vat of acid to clean these off.

**…  
**

There was only one problem.

" Base 238, Code red! X-23 has escaped! Kimura has been neutralized! Repeat, Kimura has been neutralized! Be on guard for her at Base 239, she  
has some sort of attachment to the subject undergoing operation there today." This was coming from the communications room. She entered promptly,  
slaughtered the man from behind, and hijacked the computer, intent on contacting the X-men for help.

Unfortunately, there was no phone, or radio. She did not know any of the codes for the mansion's communications devices; the only thing she had was  
a computer…with internet. She closed the dead man's browser (opened to a porn site) and opened her hotmail.

Clicking new message, she began to type.


	7. 2: V for Violation 2:6 vindication

**A/N:** Wow, what a day at work. Busy as hell and demons for customers! I politely asked one lady how many copies she would be doing...she just about grew horns.  
"What is WRONG with you? What's your PROBLEM?!" (personally, I think she had a problem...with drugs of some sort...or some kind of brain tranquilizer 'cause woooow.)  
I remained polite. My first instinct was to blurt out something Laura would say...god this story is a bad influence on me .

Annnnd I had to spend my lunchbreak listening to the Creepy Coworker (the only one in our store who is so but oi!) His laugh...reminds me of a goat. He fidgets constantly,  
he sucks and picks his teeth all the time in the lunch room (like a rat). And he's constantly trying to talk to me (I should note that he's asked me out before, in front of our boss.  
I just about died of humiliation. O god spare me) Anyways, he was saying "Heh heh...guess who was in the store today?! Campbell!"(he's a politician here). I said "Oh" and tried  
to eat my sandwhich very loudly so he would understand I was not willing to talk. No luck. "I think it's kind of cool! He knows me on a first name basis, he comes in and says 'hey  
Peter, what's up?' to me!" I said "Oh...I don't care for politicians that much." Munch munch. "Well, you never know! I could end up with a cooshy political job or something!"

Oh. My. _God._ I wanted to yell "Peter, stay the hell away from my country's government!!"If he was a politician here, I swear I would leave. Period. lol yeah sounds mean of me  
but he's the creepiest guy ever. He also had a conversation with me once where he asked what career I was planning to go into. I said medicine. He said he's an opera singer  
(I couldn't imagine him on stage, he acts like he has ants in his pants). And then...and then..."Hey Katie, you know what? I would make a _great_ trophy husband!"

/puke

* * *

**Nunya: **

_Julian the jerk: _Haha yes, typical Julian. But it's true to the character of young, fairly good-looking guys...sort of what my bf was like (apparently) before me...and the one I dated before him.  
Not to say they're jerks ALL the time, as in meaning to be so...they don't think things through, or put too much weight on stuff. I used to be upset by this style of guy before myself, but I'm  
laying back a bit...guys just don't think the same way girls do.

_Is Kimura dead? _...no comment ;-)

Glad you liked the chapter! Hope you like this one!!

* * *

**Volume: 2 Arc: "V for Violation" 2 Issue: 2/6 )**

* * *

 **Chapter 36: vindication **

* * *

"The subject escaped the facility," the woman said. She looked distraught—her hair escaping from its bun, her lab coat splattered with blood.  
"She neutralized her handler. It—it—" she sobbed, and the officers looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Forgive me." She dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief they'd given her. "I—I am supposed to assist the next operation," she said. "I don't…  
I need to warn them that she is coming…I…I recognize her... Can you…I'm a little…"

"Can't take a civilian to Base 239," one guard said.

"We can't leave her here, either." the officer said. "We'll take you there, ma'am, no worries." he said, sympathetically. She smiled weakly at him; she  
wasn't bad looking at all. He wondered if he could get her number from Head Office; he'd definitely like to follow up on her (for personal reasons).

They didn't need to know that, though.

**…**

Emma Frost clicked her e-mail inbox, expecting to be bombarded with forty Viagra ads and one or two asking for counseling on subjects she didn't teach;  
perhaps some late excuses for her Psionics class. Occasionally there was a note from Hellion about wanting to withdraw from it, or regarding the team.

She was surprised to see a note from Laura titled 'help' ; she had never asked for counseling before. She was tempted to discard it without reading it;  
however, this would be unethical, and make it especially ironic for her to be teaching the Ethics course.

Patiently, Emma clicked on the link.

**From: Laura Kinney ()**

**To: Emma Frost ()**

**Subject: help**

**Text: **

**this is awkward, i'm kind of in a hurry and urs is the only address i have at the school. anyways, i'm sure u guys have noticed keller and i are missing.  
well, we have been abducted by some sort of government co-vert operation, and, yeah, i'm hoping u guys can like suit up and do ur thing. i don't know  
where we are, but it's somewhere in a snowy place, and there are lots of scientists. i'm thinking this is the place that cloned me b/cuz they tried to put  
metal all over my bones except i killed them. they're planning to cut keller's head open like a coconut and i can't find him… i swear i'll give it my best  
shot but don't blame me if he becomes a floating brain. i'm heading out to some base 239 place…that's apparently where he is. u'd best hurry.**

**k thx laura  
**

_Scott, we have a wee problem, _Emma thought.

**…**

The woman was distant the entire ride, her eyes trained on the floor. The officer asked her questions about herself; she paused to think before each answer. __

Poor thing has had a hard go of it, he thought. _Must be in shock. _

"Tell you what…we'll go find the director, you can share your info with him…then I'm taking you to somewhere you can wind down." He smiled at her kindly.

"What's your name? Mine is Jake."

"Cordelia," the woman answered. She rubbed the backs of her hands.

"Boss…" they were approaching the facility.

**…**

Cordelia stared up at the deputy director of the base—Xander Rice—seeming to have trouble speaking; and in turn, the man stared at her.

Jake wondered if he should intermediate.

"You idiot," the director said after a moment.

**…**

Laura wiped the blood off her cheek, shaking as she continued her vigil down the hallway. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," Laura hissed.

She reached a doorway and jammed her claw into the lock; nothing but a supply closet. On second thought…she switched her lab coat for a clean one.

Refreshed, she returned to her march, the heels of her stolen shoes clicking on the smooth linoleum. The fluorescent lights made a buzzing sound and provided stark,  
white light, giving the whole place a very depressing atmosphere. Laura hacked into another room and shuddered; it was full of test subjects, all dead. Jars of body  
parts lined the walls, floating in some sort of preservation solution.

_If I'm too late…_

The complex was a maze of dead ends; she couldn't smell, or hear anything…aside from the sterilized cleanliness and the almost aching silence. It seemed deserted.  
Laura stopped at the end of the hall and pressed her head against the wall. What if…what if they had been separated? She felt a wave of nausea wash over her; she  
pushed it aside impatiently. _I—I don't care,_ she tried to think. _I don't care if…_

Rubbing her eyes, she decided to try the other side. This gamble turned out to be correct, as Laura could hear voices in the distance. Shouting. She hurried; there was a  
large pair of revolving-style doors, with a sign that said _Medical Lab #3: Isolation and Retrieval Center. _

Laura pushed on the door. It did not open; there was a security device on the outside. She dug her hands in the pockets of the lab coat; she found a lanyard, with  
keycards, and sighed in relief. Now to find the correct one…hopefully it wasn't booby trapped against multiple attempts.

Two men, holding clipboards and conversing. Laura tilted her head; they were coming this way. She continued to fumble with her keycards, but stepped aside. They paused,  
watched her for a moment, then the tallest of the two men reached out and scanned his own, his eyebrow raised.

Laura flushed. "I—I'm new," she explained.

"You'll learn soon enough, how it is around here," the shorter man said. "Digits ending in '00 are for the labs. '10 are for the general doors. Yes, it's really that simple."

They entered the room as the doors parted, Laura trailing behind.

Her eyes darted back and forth like crazy. The room was semi-dark. There seemed to be several operations taking place today. There, in the corner! Keller was on his back  
on a gurney, his eyes wide open. He looked miserable. And strapped down. And surrounded by about twenty twitchy-looking men with machine guns. She approached him,  
behind a group of scientists, and peered over one's shoulder; his eye flickered down to her in recognition. She held her finger to her mouth in warning.

"Attach the neural inhibitors," the tall man who'd entered with her instructed. "Another dose of Botulinium type-AB. Three CC's." He seemed to be in charge. Laura wasted  
no time; she saw an insubordinate picking up a tiny brown glass bottle and a syringe; she took the supplies from the other woman with a calm, professional manner. "Thank  
you," she said, quenching any questions she might have had. "Please go get the sterilization supplies."

She made her way to Keller's gurney, then stopped by his side, and withdrew a dose from the bottle. She'd analyzed the situation—if she was re-dosing him with the muscle  
paralytic, then it was about to wear off. And this meant that Keller would soon be able to help her fight. She would wait for him to knock the drugs off; without his telekinesis,  
there was a good chance of him being Swiss-cheesed with bullet holes from a machine gun.

Laura reached down and swabbed an area on the outside of his shoulder. She could see his bicep flex ever so slightly under his skin; he was trying to show her that the drugs  
were losing their effect. She flicked her eyebrow up a tad, and leaned over the site for injection. She then appeared to insert the needle, holding it about a millimeter away from  
his skin and depressing the plunger.

A few minutes later, the helper approached with an armful of metal clamp-looking objects that Laura decided were probably the neural inhibitors. She couldn't allow these to be  
attached, either; they'd effectively kill their chances of escape. She placed her hands on the table and leaned over Keller's thigh. "I'd wait, with that. Give it a few minutes for the  
Botulinium type-AB to take effect. I've heard he can be…violent. Biting and such."

The helper looked startled, and backed away. She almost looked down, Keller had touched the inside of her wrist with his finger. Risky but effective; at the rate this was fading,  
it would be about three minutes before he regained full control.

"I thought I ordered those inhibitors five minutes ago," the head surgeon said, annoyed, to the helper. "What's the hold-up?"

"S-she said he bites," the assistant said. "She advised I wait till the Botulinium type-B to finish working."

"You idiot, the Botulinium works immediately," the surgeon said angrily. "What are you…shit."

Keller sat up, his eyes green. The restraints severed themselves, and he clambered off the table, his hand in a fist and his face contorted with hate. Gunfire erupted but they  
bounced off a slight green tinge in the air.

"Let's see how you like a shot in the ass," Keller said. The scientists watched in horror as their supply cabinet opened of its own accord, and the sterile needles floated over  
to the bottles. "It's like a lottery. I don't know who gets what. The only difference is…everyone wins," Keller continued calmly.

Someone pounded on the door, trying to escape. It was too late; the syringes were flying, fully loaded. One sunk into the flesh of the man's back; he fell against the door, twitching.

"We'd better deal with these guys," Laura said, looking at the military units as they fired against the almost invisible shield. Her hand claws slid out.

"I've got it," Keller said, turning. She watched as he expanded the shield slowly, foot by foot, pushing the men into the walls. He continued, even when the space was too small; they  
began crying out as their bodies were contorted into unnatural shapes. Some were unlucky enough to be forced into shelves of glass beakers. The air was filled with the tinkle of  
breaking glass as each individual beaker exploded; the walls cracked and crumbled under the pressure Keller was exerting. Some of the men began to bleed from their orifices, choking.

"I think that's good," Laura said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Keller…"

He tilted his head at her, clenched his fist even tighter. The men screamed in agony as their bones broke with a multitude of snapping noises; then suddenly he opened his  
hand and they fell to the floor.

"_Now_ it's good," Keller said quietly, turning and stepping over the body of the lead scientist, which was still twitching. Laura looked at the bottle lying beside his head—a blend of  
Barbiturates. It seemed Keller had given him the entire bottle.

**…**

"I think this is it, Laura," Keller said weakly. He'd been shot in the shoulder, and was losing blood at an incredible rate; they were surrounded by an extraordinary amount of military  
support. Laura's arms tightened around his waist to support him better; she frowned. "It's been…good knowing you," she said, knowing he was right.

They were backed into a corner with no way out. Keller was going to lose consciousness at any moment, and the telekinetic shield would go with him. And then Laura would be alone,  
with enough lead and tasers directed at her to down an elephant.

"Laura—" he pulled her down and kissed her briefly. "I lo—" his eyes rolled back into his head, and he slipped to the floor, suddenly too heavy for Laura to continue supporting. She  
held onto his hand, her eyes suddenly full of tears.

They were about to die.

And then the ceiling erupted. She looked up, not sure what to expect. She'd never been so relieved; the school's teachers were here, including Jean and Cyclops and Emma.

Laura sat down in the corner, cradling Keller's unconscious torso against herself as the fighting ensued.


	8. 2: V for Violation 3:6 volatile

**A/N:**

**Nunya: **HAHAHHAHHAHA...AHAHHAHA...AHHAHA!! I thought that bathroom thing was _hilarious._ OMG, that reminds me...another funny Peter story...  
he kept hitting on my coworker, and she kept saying no...then one day she's doing garbages, goes to do the men's one...knocks, no answer, it's  
unlocked, she opens..._Scream! oh the horror! _I wasn't there, but apparently everyone in the store stopped. She was standing there screaming 'coz  
Peter was umm occupying the washroom. _Ew. Ew ew_ how can you _not lock the bathroom door. _I would've screamed too, lol! Creeps, gotta luv em.  
For my part, I'm just ignoring him and talking about my bf loudly to other people when he's listening in on my conversations...I already told him no  
when he asked me out, lol. It's just a part time job, so not too bad, I'll live .

And: Oh, I know. Isn't Julian silly? He passes out just when he's about to prove he has the balls. Men...

**Laura K. Howlett: **Thank you! I thought it was kind of cool too...I realized with this volume I have so much freedom to do my own takes on previous  
X-men plots (as well as my own). Alot of material will come up, including but not limited to New X-men Childhood's End...for instance, I'm working on  
a plot right now involving events from the orig New X-men comic, with the Cuckoos and Quentin Quire. I'm also having a lot of fun, writing the other  
New X-men--those _outside_ the Hellion Squad (like the New Mutants), because that darned M-day ain't in the way anymore. Happy happy joy joy! I  
also joined the Uncanny X-cast forum thing as -K2- (my initials are KK so I thought it was kinda cool, hehe). X-D

* * *

**Volume: 2 Arc: "V for Violation" 2 Issue: 3/6 )**

* * *

 **Chapter 37: volatile **

* * *

Keller and Laura were seated in the office, blankets around there shoulders, like two irresponsible children who'd fallen into the river and were now being  
cared for (at the same time as being scolded). Except without the scolding.

"I've called your mother, Laura," Scott was informing her gravely. "She will be here at four o' clock."

Keller winced.

"My mother?" Laura's eyes widened. This was precisely the thing to agitate her further. "You force me to come to your school, you allow me to be abducted  
and experimented on—and then you call my _mother._ Unbelievable!"

"We didn't—" Scott tried to say.

"As usual, Scott didn't _read_ the file to check on your family relationship. Did you, dear?" Emma asked, tilting her head and smiling at the back of Summers' head.  
"I understand you perfectly, Ms. Kinney. How unusual…we share a common distrust of our ancestors."

Scott cleared his throat. "Laura…we thought it would be best. Your mother has related to me that she would like to speak with you, regarding the matter at hand.  
Until now, I have respected your wishes to ignore contact; however…" he looked sober. "Laura, family is precious. Your mother has tried to get in touch no less  
than twenty-one times in the two months since your request to me. She is…distraught by your refusal to hear her explanations."

Laura blinked. Behind Scott, to Emma's left, Jean smiled to herself about something.

"If you ask me, half-pint, you'd do best to talk to your mom," Logan voiced from behind Laura. His palms rested on the back of her chair.

"Fucking X-men!" Laura snapped, overwhelmed by the pressure in the room.

**…  
**

Keller followed her out of the office like a puppy, still wrapped in a blanket.

"Laura—about earlier—"

"No," Laura snarled. She didn't especially want to relate the details of her life to Keller, of all people. If she'd had a choice about it, she would've been abducted alone.  
Scratch that…she never would have been abducted, period. "I don't feel like telling you about life as a clone, thanks, Keller. You can leave now, you did your bit and  
stopped the bad people from lopping the top of your head off to steal your nut. I'd rather not participate in the aftermath."

"No, dumb fuck," he said, grabbing her wrist. "I meant—when I was passing out—I was trying to tell you something, something I realized during all of this. In the cell...  
all I worried about was you. And I wanted to—uh—tell you that—I think I care about you…I think I might—"

"Absolutely not!" Laura wrenched her wrist out of his grip. "Goddamn you, Keller, when are you going to get it into your head that I _hate_ you? Maybe they did  
take your brain after all."

"You have a funny way of showing it," he reiterated, his usual argument. "You sleep with me—you hang around with me—that's not hate. That's something else entirely!"

"Don't over analyze it," she said coolly. "Since you're so concerned with it, _fine_, all that will stop. You want my pure hatred, you got it. I don't know why I even talk to you,  
because I really don't care whether you live or die."

They had reached Laura's room by this moment, and she twisted the knob rather viciously. "You do care!" Keller insisted. "Otherwise you'd have taken off without me.  
I'd be dead without you."

"Consider it a one-time favor. Now excuse me…I have to prepare to receive my mother." Laura slipped into her room and slammed the door in his face.

"NO! You're NOT excused! KINNEY!" Keller pounded on the door, his face red; a group of younger students passed by, looking quite afraid of him. Finally he gave up, not  
really in the mood to break down any doors.

**…**

Julian looked up from his plate, which he had just been rearranging. The peas and the corn should be to the right of the steak, and the green beans looked better on the  
rim. As usual, the potatoes had become a volcano.

"I heard about the…incident," Sofia said. She had deliberately made a trek over from the New Mutants table to his, and now she sat down across from him.

Laura was not beside him, engaged in a meeting with her mother and Wolverine upstairs…with Emma Frost present as councilor. He hoped something would work out…he  
was burning inside, with a stronger, newly realized obsession for Laura. He hoped she could work her shit out, so he could work his shit out with her. He'd spent an evening  
sitting on his bed, with his head in his hands, trying to look at things from her point of view. If it was time…he could wait, he needn't pressure her…

Sofia frowned at him. "Are you alright? Were you hurt?"

"Nothing but my pride." Julian said dismissively. A nurse had molested him in the facility, a story he hadn't really felt like sharing. He had to be one of the first men on the  
planet to be raped by a woman, and frankly, he was quite embarrassed.

"Are _your_ parents coming?" Sofia asked gently. Everyone had heard that Laura's mother was here; it was school gossip. Mainly because she'd broken the headmaster's  
solid oak door by slamming it in her mother's face.

"No," Julian said, trying not to sound affected. He knew Summers had tried to contact them, but he also knew his father was too busy to be concerned; and his mother…  
they probably didn't care, all that much. Of course they'd be here if there was a funeral…but other than that…

Sofia frowned. "Do you want to go out, tonight? We could—"

"Sofia," he said, clearing his throat. "Uh—I need to talk to you."

**…**

Julian leaned his forehead against his locker, wishing he could just stop existing. Somehow, he'd managed to piss off two of the most important females in his life…and he  
wasn't quite sure how. Well, he understood how he'd upset Sofia…telling her he had to end it…but it still seemed unfair to him, when he was just trying to be fair with  
everyone involved. And he was getting nothing in the end, anyways.

If that wasn't enough, he'd just been humiliated in front of his whole team and their opposing team, the New Mutants.

"Rough day?" The gold-skinned boy, Foley, was grinning at him. He was from the other team, and was standing with his towel slung over his shoulder. Beside him,  
Alleyne was closing his locker, his appearance more sober.

"Mmm." Julian opened his own compartment and rummaged through the space.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about," Foley continued. "Surge is, well, fast…and you're probably still a bit anorexic from your…ordeal." He was referring to Ashida whizzing  
by at super-speed and catching Julian by the waist, at which point his pants had fallen down.

"Can you just shut up, or is it too hard for you?" Julian slammed the metal door closed. "I'm not in the mood for this crap." Usually, he and Foley were good friends; however,  
he couldn't stand for banter right now.

"Leave him alone, Josh," Alleyne said calmly. "He's just upset about losing."

"And you're just ecstatic about _winning_, for once," Julian shot. "Enjoy it while it lasts, never again…Alleyne."

"Damn right!" Santo commented, emerging from the shower. He had to duck in the actual locker room, as the ceiling was lower; and he still dwarfed the locker units.

"Why do you even bother showering? You don't sweat," Alleyne asked, curious.

" 'Coz I'm _dirrrrrrty_," Santo grinned.

"And he's stupid," Foley added.

"Take that back," Julian snapped. He slammed Foley against the locker mentally so the other boy banged his head.

"Someone's upset," Foley jeered.

"Josh…stop it," Alleyne said, a bit more directly than last time. In the background, the rest of the male portion of the teams were silent, not wishing to be involved;  
although Brian was always ready to back Julian up in a fight.

"Or maybe it's just the whole pants thing was the first action he's ever had, and it got his hormones moving." Foley laughed; this was the excuse Julian was looking for.  
He rammed his fist towards the other boy's nose. Foley dodged so his knuckles hit the metal locker; as he was cursing, he punched him in the stomach…and it was on.

"Cat fight! Cat fight!" Santo grinned. "Er…wait…if it's guys, does that make it a dog fight?"

**…**

Julian sat outside Summers' office quietly, glaring daggers at Foley, who sat across the hall from him. A row of lockers had exploded when Foley had nimbly avoided a TK bolt,  
and now they were both held responsible for damage to school property. They'd endured lectures from their respective councilors (Jean Grey-Summers for Foley and Emma Frost  
for Julian), and were now waiting for the ultimate decision from Scott Summers as to their discipline.

Someone stomped down the hall. Julian's head turned; it was Laura. She sank down on the bench beside him.

"I destroyed Emma's office," she said, before he could ask. "My mother just informed me that she was in charge of the experiment that created me." Laura was still shaking in anger.

"Today is not a good day for the school," Summers said as he opened his office door. "I assume you're all here for vandalism of some sort?"

"Mmm." Julian wondered what Laura would do if he put his arm around her.

Probably sever it at the shoulder, in the mood she was in.

"Come on in," Summers sighed.

**…  
**

The next day found Julian in class, because he figured he should probably attend…the whole point of his existence at the institute was to attend school, after all, and he hadn't  
done that in about 2 weeks or more—the length of his abduction. Laura wasn't in the morning Biology class, or the afternoon Chemistry class, but she showed up for the Physics class,  
looking grumpy as ever.

She slammed her books down at her usual spot.

"Don't talk to me, don't touch me, and don't even _think_ about me." she growled at him as she sat down. "If you extend an appendage in my direction it will be cut off. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Julian opened his mouth, closed it, then sighed and let his head drop.

"Okay…can I please, please, _please_ talk to you later, when you're not so…uh…under pressure?" he asked.

"Sure…because I can guarantee a moment like that will never exist." Laura opened her book and ignored him for the rest of the class.


	9. 2: V for Violation 4:6 vilification

**A/N: **Laura is pretty much what I'd like to be like...I'm one of those people who get a billion funny mean comments in their head and never says anything  
'coz they are too afraid, haha. I'm pleased that Laura and Julian are turning out to be more three-dimensional in this volume. You pretty much have to make  
the comics your own to develop the characters. And oh noes! My story is not only interrupting my own projects but those of my readers! We'll all get a big fat  
FAIL but we'll go home happy... lol

* * *

**Volume: 2 Arc: "V for Violation" 2 Issue: 4/6 )**

 **Chapter 38: vilification **

* * *

_  
Second Field Day. Please don't let my pants fall off, or let my agitated, disturbed teammate—who, incidentally, I am crazy about but can't talk to because she has  
threatened to cut my hands off—harm anyone; please don't let my councilor have PMS, please don't let Santo conveniently forget everything, please don't let Wither  
have an accident with Foley's face like he threatened; please don't let the opposing team leader expel things I have stupidly told her in the past, in public…_

Julian opened his eyes.

"Objectives: To find and disarm the bomb. Remember…although we're not dealing with a _real_ bomb here, you must treat it as if it were in order to remain qualified  
in this event. That means…no phasing, no exposing it to energies, no jostling it…"

"No fair," Santo complained loudly. "_We _don't have a smart guy."

"Be quiet, Rockslide," Julian said. He counted this as the first humiliation of the day. The way this month was going, a day wasn't complete without at least three  
fights and five embarrassing moments.

"It may be anywhere on the school grounds, either inside or outside of a building, in a public area." They had learned to cover this facet from previous Field Days,  
when Santo had broken into someone's room, believing he'd found the objective there (it had turned out to be some girl's douche, and there was some  
embarrassment over this). "We will be at the usual spot. First team to bring us the disarmed bomb wins." Summers said. He started his stopwatch. "Good luck.  
You have twenty minutes before it explodes. The bomb will record the time it is disarmed, for sake of accuracy. It also contains movement and energy sensors."

"Okay, guys, usual pattern, except now we have X-23 to help us," Julian said. "Me and Dust will handle the aerial search. Rockslide and Tag, you search the grounds;  
Mercury, X-23, and Wither, you cover the school inside. I'll check back and forth between everyone."

They split up.

**…  
**

Laura sat, bored, on the roof with the fake bomb. She'd found it quite easily; the teachers had been considerate enough to put a sound device inside it, and she'd  
heard the ticking almost as soon as she walked into the school. It had been taped on the top of a doorway. Then, for amusement's sake, she'd fiddled with the bomb  
for a bit till it was "disarmed", technically about a minute and a half; then wandered around the school for a while, got a popsicle from the kitchen, climbed to the roof,  
and sat on the edge, dangling her legs in boredom as she ate it.

"Laura—what the fuck?" Julian suddenly appeared in the air beside her. "Aren't you helping?" He was exasperated.

"Oh, you want this?" she asked, holding up the bomb.

He felt like crying in frustration. "I know you're not happy to be here, but—"

"Actually, I couldn't care less," Laura commented breezily. "Oh, you can't use your brain on the bomb, can you?" she grinned. Suddenly she hurled the bomb through the air,  
towards the ground. "Keller...FETCH!"

"Fuck!" Julian hurtled after the objective. He barely caught it before it hit the ground, but he didn't catch himself; he skidded along the pavement, scraping himself in  
various tender areas.

"Good boy!" Laura shouted down from the roof, clapping her hands together. He glared up at her; she belligerently licked her popsicle.

**…**

"We won, no thanks to you. If you're at all curious," Keller grumbled at Laura during the break in Bio class. He wore square gauze bandages with sports tape on both  
elbows, and they had bled through.

"I wasn't." Laura was eating from a bag of cookies. He tried to take one but she slapped his hand away possessively, her eyes wide.

"Laura…you're being such a jerk," he said.

"Why do you keep trying to hang around me, then?" she countered. "I told you, I don't like you, and I certainly don't long for your company. I've even asked you, quite  
nicely, to fuck off. I haven't initiated any contact for the last week. Did it all just go over your head? Should I point out to Emma that you could use some guidance in dealing with girls?"

"I…" Julian sighed. "Look, I dunno, okay? Do I have to give a defined answer for everything? Maybe I just like being around you too much to ignore it."

Laura munched on her cookie thoughtfully.

"Nah, that's not it. You just miss the sex." The boy behind her swiveled his head, startled; he probably hadn't ever gotten any himself. He looked like a cross  
between a vulture and a pterodactyl.

Julian stared at her blankly. "Sex? What sex? Oh, you mean _that_?"

"Exactly. Now you're getting the idea," Laura said. She turned to look at the bird boy, scowling. "You know, it's extremely bad manners to eavesdrop."

"It's bad manners to talk about sex in public!" The boy squawked back earnestly. "That's a matter that should stay in the bedroom and not be spoken in public so  
all the devoted straight-edges have to endure it."

Laura rolled her eyes. "So maybe my manners aren't the best, doesn't mean you have to be rude too." She hissed at the boy; he swept his belongings further down the  
table with an alarmed expression. Julian admired his audacity and briefly considered doing the same…but that was just what Laura wanted.

"You're a credit to this school," he commented.

"I try," Laura replied. "Why are we still talking? I thought I dismissed you, when the class started, like I always do. That _means_ I won't be answering any of your questions.  
Goodbye." She turned her head, and Julian realized she was seriously going to ignore him for the rest of the day.

**…**

"Please talk to me." Julian leaned back and pressed his head against her door. He was sprawled on the floor, and out of previous experience, had a thermos beside him,  
ready for a long haul. For some reason a woman's idea of a temper tantrum with him usually involved shutting him out of their room.

Silence.

He rapped on the door. "Laura…look, I'm not going away till you come out. Why don't we just go out like we usually do, just friends? Or respectful enemies, or whatever  
you wanna call it now. I don't care about the classification right now, I just want to go do something fun."

Silence.

"Booze…and I'm paying," he added.

The door opened, and Laura glared out at him. "Didn't you learn your lesson? Freaks like us can't afford to get drunk."

" Fuck that," Julian said, taking a sip from his thermos, his eyes trained on Laura. "I think we shut them down pretty good. I heard that Summers got in touch with  
General Nick Fury…_they_ won't be bugging us anytime soon."

Laura considered.

"I'm feeling sick," she said. Suddenly he noticed that she _did_ look a little under the weather…was that vomit on her tank top? He shrugged.

"So just come and keep me company, then. I'll buy you whatever you want. And if you puke on me, so be it." He grinned.

"You disgust me. So eager for my company you'll let me projectile vomit all over you." Laura leaned against the doorframe.

"I didn't say I wouldn't be upset," he pointed out.

" I really don't feel like basking in your presence at the moment, Keller. You make me sick and I hate you. You just increase the probability that there _will_ be vomit by  
about 100 percent."

She turned and shut the door in his face; Julian flushed angrily.

"Fine!" he shouted, standing up. "I won't bother with you anymore then, you lame, stuck-up bitch!"

"Go to hell," Laura said from inside the room. "I hope you rot there."

Julian hurled his now-empty thermos at her door, leaving a dent, then stormed off, almost leaving a little black storm cloud behind him. He didn't see Laura open  
the door about a minute later and pick up his thermos, her eyes damp.

**…**

English class, the next day. Laura sat at her usual round table, solitary, enjoying her break from Keller, and from the situation. She spread open her books.

" Laura! Come sit with us!" Sofia called. Glancing over, she saw that the girl was sitting with a few others she didn't know too well—some girl named Surge, and a shy,  
quiet blond that she didn't even know the name of. Laura considered ignoring them too, but usually Sofia was fairly nice company; they'd shared tables before.

_I actually like the competition_, she thought. _My life is so mixed up_. She didn't allow herself to specify whether she considered Sofia as competition due to her position as  
leader of the opposing squad…or the fact that she was Julian's obsession. If she had considered it, she would've had to admit that she didn't care about the squads at all,  
and there would go that excuse out the window.

She picked up her books, despite herself, and carried them over to the other table. Sofia pulled out a chair for her and she sat down between she and the blue-haired girl.

" I heard you blew Keller off last night," the girl grinned. "What can I do to show my support for you?"

" Not talk about it," Laura said calmly. " Er—"

"Nori," the girl said pleasantly. "Noriko Ashida. Don't worry, we haven't traded more than two words before…I wouldn't expect you to have memorized my name just yet."

" Right," Laura said. She spread open her book. "And you are?"

"Laurie," the shy blond responded.

" Okay," Laura said.

**…**

When class let out, Sofia took Laura aside in the hallway. "I wanted to talk with you," she said, her tone serious. "Would you like to go for coffee?"

Laura wrinkled her nose. "Tea. I hate coffee."

Sofia smiled. "Sure. I like chai tea…and I know of a good place to get it." She linked her arm with Laura's—something she was entirely unused to, unnecessary human contact.

Later, with their fingers curled around large, steaming mugs of something foamy with whipped cream on top, Laura contemplated Sofia, sizing her up. What was it that  
Keller liked so much about this girl? She knew Sofia was doing the same thing, except she was 'the other woman' in this equation.

Laura was beginning to understand what her whole damage was. It had been hidden by all the confusion of being abducted, of fighting with her mother, of being thrown  
into a completely different lifestyle than she was used to. She was upset with Keller—a mild word—because he was, in basis, using her. She'd used him back—for money—  
but it was starting to wear on her nerves. They'd never be anything more with Sofia about; it was the same old scenario. Wealthy husband, wealthy wife, and the maid;  
except there was nothing legal involved.

"Julian told me—" Sofia began.

Laura held up her hand. "Save it, okay? We both know what's going on here."

Sofia raised an eyebrow. "We do?"

"I didn't think you were stupid," Laura said, with difficulty. She hated talking about emotions. "Or maybe you are. Maybe we both are. Letting a guy run us around like this.  
It makes me sick, to think I've become one of those girls."

Sofia watched Laura warily.

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"That Keller has been running me around the back doors. I stopped it last week."

Sofia's eyes widened. "He didn't tell you? Stupid boy."

"Didn't tell me what?" Laura sipped her drink. It was pleasant, spicy; it was a nice sensation that somewhat counter-acted the nausea and subsequent vomiting she'd experienced of  
late. Laura had put the illness down to stress; while her healing factor usually defeated most lesser bugs instantly, she was still susceptible to major strains (for brief periods), and  
she was admittedly high-strung.

"Julian…told me about you."

Laura blinked. "He did?"

"He did," Sofia said calmly. "He…told me that he has feelings for you. And therefore he cannot see me any longer."

Laura didn't know how to react; she grabbed her bag (almost the wrong one) and ran out the door, hitting several people on the way out. Was she happy? More angry at Keller for  
fucking things up so badly. They'd traded some irreversible words upon seeing each other the day after he'd thrown his thermos at the door; more irreversible than usual, during the  
Bio class break. It had ended with Keller actually scooping up his things and moving across the room; he'd proceeded to choose a different seat for every class thereafter.

"Lover's quarrel?" the bird-boy, now her only Biology neighbor, had asked sympathetically.

"Shut up, Bohusk," Laura had said, flushing. She'd had to get to know him a bit more over the next few classes, as by default he was now her lab partner.

**…**

"Oh!" Laura exclaimed, peering over the top of the ladder. It was a particularly windy day, and Keller had been silent; she hadn't been able to detect him beforehand. He was sitting  
on the edge of the roof, looking across the school grounds with a peaceful look—which changed as his head swiveled in her direction.

"You'll just be leaving, then," he said, annoyed.

Laura paused. "Keller…I've been thinking things over a bit…I—I need to talk to you."

"Forget it!" he said, sneering. "Some things you just can't unhear, you know?"

Laura thought back to the Irreversible Words thing, and frowned. "I get a little mouthy when I'm angry. Um…"

Keller watched her warily. "You know, if I feel like talking to you again, I'll go play with the dangerous cabinet in the chemical lab. It probably has less acid than _you_."

Laura flushed. "Keller—"

"It's 'Julian'," he said. "This conversation is over." With that, he pushed himself off the edge and dropped out of view. Laura heaved herself over the edge and ran to where he  
had been sitting; she caught a speck of green light fading into the distance. She was silent. And nauseous. She looked down at the ground; Emma Frost was sitting on the porch,  
sipping tea. Laura's stomach rolled.

She played with the idea of giving new meaning to the words "projectile vomit".


	10. 2: V for Violation 5:6 violation

**A/N: **Forgive me, I've done it yet again as you'll find in this chapter. It makes sense later. Annd...I just had to put in the Fender...I have a light blue one myself on  
which I can play two simple nursey rhyme style songs. Oh wow.

* * *

zackslacker18  
2008-10-06  
ch 8,

_I don't know why but I knew julian was going to act like that._

Yup, typical guy reaction. Well, typical reaction for anyone I think...people tend to be hasty with emotional decisions, and are not willing to swallow their pride  
even if the results will be good. This is something I notice with myself, and am working on correcting. (if you haven't noticed, I love to analyze people . )

* * *

Miss Nunya  
2008-10-06  
ch 9,

_I finally got a fanfiction account i know its not hard to do but i've got dial up so it takes forever to load and then it said the penname Nunya was taken even after i'd searched authors to make sure it  
wasn't. go figure._

Yay! Hi Miss Nunya! X-D

_Well, i think Emma makes a great target lol. Glad to see Julian broke things off with Sofia. Of course now that he and Laura are fighting... gasps what if they don't go to the dance together! This is torture lol  
Great chapter!_ Yes, yes I love picking on Emma. And yup, Julian's coming around...but he's still an idiot. Keep readin ;-)

_Oh and it turns out that project wasn't due today so i got up at 5:30 for nothing / i've gotta get a planner lol  
_Well, sum-bitch (my bf's word for sonuvabitch) I hate unnecessarily early wakeups...then it's never worth it to go back for like an hour or two more of sleep...especially  
when you've put your contacts in, lol. I'm really bad with planners too. I don't know why. I'm really organized otherwise...

* * *

Laura K. Howlett  
2008-10-06  
_  
This would technically be their second...is Cable still out there with Sarah even with the whole "time" thing being rewritten to where Wanda never said three little words? ( afore questions are  
entirely rhetorical)_ Hmm you made me think! I suddenly had a plot revelation in my head. You can be proud that you inspired it. Watch for it coming!!

_Great writing as always. And do you ever wish that the Cuckoos actually existed so that could dump all that medical knowledge into your brain like they did for Elixir? Then could write without  
worries and have great job in the industry, best of all it would be in a place where you would never have to deal with creepy wannabe politicians named Peter. _Awww, thank you muches. Eh,  
well, if the Cuckoos existed, then I'd say "fuck it!" and go to Xavier's to train (because obviously I would be a mutant myself). Also, I love the biology part of studying...fascinating...  
it's the fuckin lab reports I hate. All the format, very little science to it!! And I'm sure I will have PLENTY of creeps wherever I go . especially depending on what hospital I would work  
in (me wants 2 be a dr). If I start out somewhere lower class, imagine the creeps I'd meet, lol. I don't mind people who are different...just people that cross lines with me and make  
it personal. I mean, I am pretty weird myself! My bf could tell you some stories.

* * *

zackslacker18  
2008-10-06  
_  
2 questions & 1 request (if you can)  
Are laura and julian getting back together again? _Read on ;-)  
_ Laura's pregnant isn't she? _Read on, I'm sure you'll find your conclusion in this chapter.

_Would it be possible if you can have the faculty members, hellion squad ,and new mutant squad seeing julian and laura in the same bed. _Hmm...not at this point in the story...I'll look at it in  
some of my other chapters. If not this story, I might write something else about Helix that is more comic-based than this AU...maybe a plot that hinges on that event.

* * *

**Volume: 2 Arc: "V for Violation" 2 Issue: 5/6 )**

 **Chapter 39: violation **

* * *

It was Saturday, and Laura didn't know what to do with herself. She'd finished all her work, she'd cleaned her room; she had money that her mother  
had given her, but she didn't feel like spending it. She found herself wandering down the hall to a familiar door; it looked out of place in the daylight.

She paused in front of it. _What the hell am I trying to say?_ she wondered. She realized there was noise coming from it; music. Keller was playing guitar.

She raised her eyebrows; he was pretty good.

Hesitating, she let her fingers hover over the door, then remembered that—unlike her—he wouldn't know who it was till he answered.

She knocked.

A minute later, the door opened a crack and one blue eye glared out at her.

"What the hell? Go away, you're not welcome here!"

"What were you playing?" she asked, tilting her head. She could just see his guitar from here; she'd played a bit, before, herself. It looked like a Fender,  
a nice red one. Not a beginner's one, anyhow; it figured, him being the son of billionaires and all.

"I thought I dismissed you."

Laura's lips twitched at the corner. "Odd name for a song," she said, and despite himself, Keller looked slightly amused. "If you're going to be difficult…it  
was a Nirvana thing. Rape Me. Now can you leave?"

She leaned her cheek against his doorframe. "I'm bored."

"That's great," he said. "Go be bored somewhere else. I have no sympathy for you here." He closed the door in her face; Laura's eyes stung slightly. She knew  
she'd caused this…partially…but his actions seemed so final. He wasn't just angry right now—he'd thought it over, and he'd slept on it, and he had made his mind  
up that he wouldn't talk to her anymore.

She was nauseous again.

**…**

"Dr. McCoy?" Laura hesitated at the door of his office.

The blue, furry mutant looked up and smiled slightly at his student. Laura had usually not been sarcastic to him, having respect for his methods and knowledge;  
they had a good student-teacher relationship, which was quite unusual for her.

"Ah, Ms. Kinney. How can I help you today? Homework questions?"

He shuffled some papers on the desk.

"Umm—n-no. Is this a bad time? I can…come back," Laura fidgeted.

"Not at all. Please feel free to request my help, or if there's anything you'd like to discuss, I'm 'all ears'. Although, please do not make fun of my ears…I realize they  
are quite unusual at the moment." Dr. McCoy's ears were long and donkey-shaped, not quite as catlike as was the norm for him.

"What…" Laura stared at him, not having really examined his appearance.

"I was assured the effects would be temporary. There was an incident in which one of our fine students had a slippage of power control, and I was entirely transformed  
into a donkey for twenty-four hours. This is the last of the…shape shifting, and I am hopefully it will be complete in another half hour or so."

"Okay," Laura said, grinning slightly. "Um, well…I haven't been feeling too good lately…I heard you functioned as the school doctor."

"Ah!" Dr. McCoy said. "Very good, I can certainly help you there, Ms. Kinney. Why don't you have a seat, and tell me your symptoms? We can go to the lab after and run  
some tests. I do all my own lab work, you know. Perhaps you'd like to have a look at the microscope yourself?"

"Sure," Laura said, taking a seat in the plushy chair in front of his desk. "Well…the symptoms…I thought it was just stress, at first. You know, my healing factor pretty much  
kills anything right off. But they haven't stopped…"

"How long have you had them, now?" Dr. McCoy asked, frowning.

"Two weeks," Laura said. "A bit more, maybe. Ever since…"

"The grand abduction. Ah. Yes, I see why you are concerned, Laura." Dr. McCoy nodded gravely. "And the actual symptoms?"

Laura sighed. "Well…it's embarrassing…but my stomach's been off. I've been nauseous a lot…it happens sometimes when I'm stressed out. But…"

Dr. McCoy jotted something down on a piece of paper, then motioned for her to continue.

**…**

"No."

Laura was pale as a sheet.

"I'm afraid so," Dr. McCoy said, peering in the microscope again. "I had my suspicions when you listed your symptoms…this confirms it. You have a detectable presence  
of the hormone." He cleared his throat. "I will run a quantitative test, to determine the length of time…but there is no doubt. The second test will, unfortunately, take  
longer; I should be able to tell you by tomorrow."

Laura nodded, confused. "Did they…"

Dr. McCoy frowned. "I believe so. There is no way to tell. Only you would know that, Ms. Kinney. I can, however, find out who if you have suspicions …"

"Please," she said.

"We will speak tomorrow, then. Come down in the morning, after breakfast. If you have an idea of who it might be, please try to bring him along. I will prepare papers for  
you to read. And you must make a decision."

**…  
**

Laura sat on the roof, ignoring the rain, her life in pieces around her ears again. She watched the night around her, wishing she was just a raindrop, or something simple,  
something that didn't get abducted and abused and artificially…she was humiliated, she wished jumping off the roof would allow her to kill herself but it would only cause  
momentary pain…she imagined the humiliation of telling everyone. Her mother…Wolverine…she would probably have to tell Keller, too. And Scott…and Emma…she jammed  
her claws into the roof, tears rolling down her face. Her mind screamed that it had been violated. Maybe she should just run away. But she couldn't handle this alone…


	11. 2: V for Violation 6:6 verification

* * *

**Volume: 2 Arc: "V for Violation" 2 Issue: 6/6 )**

 **Chapter 40: verification **

* * *

Julian opened his door, still fuming from team practice. Laura hadn't showed again, not that he'd personally wanted to see her; but it  
somehow felt unfair, to have a deadbeat like her on his team. He'd spoken to Frost about having her transferred; he didn't feel like  
putting up with anymore Laura crap this term. He was done. He tried to feel free about it; he could hang around with Sofia again…  
and if Sofia wasn't interested, there was always the Cuckoos…he'd taken them out once and he liked Mindee pretty well…

He dropped his books. Laura was sitting on his bed, her hands folded on her lap, her expression sober.

"What the hell?! Get out!" He yelled. He saw that his window was open.

"Keller…"

"Fucking out!" He grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her off the bed. "Out! Not talking to you!"

"Yes, you are," she said, refusing to move. She took a deep breath. "This is important. We've got a little problem…and your it's daddy."

It took him a second to understand. He grinned.

"Well, it's not _my_ problem," he said. "I was careful. No way it's me. You can go snivel at someone else's door."

"Julian!" She stood up, her eyes flashing. "You think I would come and unload this on you if I wasn't almost positive? First off…I'm not as  
loose as you think I am. And second…I don't think it has anything to do with how safe _we_ were."

He opened his mouth, then shut it, and flopped down on his bed beside her. Oh fuck. Something had happened to match it too…that  
humiliating incident with the nurse…

"The facility, huh?" he asked bitterly, after a moment. "Well, son of a bitch."

Laura put her head in her hands. "This is the end of my life."

Julian didn't argue. He was still angry. "Well, abort it."

"I'm anti-abortion!" Laura hissed.

"Do you really want to keep it?" he pointed out. "We're not exactly on terms to have a kid together. _I _don't want one, anyways."

Laura's nose wrinkled. "At least come with me to my appointment with Dr. McCoy tomorrow," she said, her voice wavering. "It's at four. If you're  
so sure it's not yours, then come prove it. You can do that much." She blinked, hard. Julian scowled. "I don't have to do anything. Out." He pointed  
at the door; Laura got to her feet and left, shoving him out of her way as she walked past. For once, the last word was his.

It didn't feel too great though.

**…  
**

Four o' clock the next day found Julian standing outside Dr. McCoy's door, his hands in his pockets. Laura stopped halfway down the hallway when  
she saw him, surprised. She hadn't expected him to come.

"This doesn't mean I'm talking to you," Julian said, sitting down on the bench in the hallway. "It doesn't mean anything's different between us. I'm  
only here to defend my side of this."

Laura sat down on the other end of the bench, silent.

They waited for about an hour, Julian impatiently checking his watch every so often. There was finally a noise at the other end of the hallway. "Hello,"  
a voice said. It was Jean Grey-Summers with a kind smile. She was peering out of her own office.

"Hi," Laura responded.

"Hank asked me to tell you two that he'll be a bit late. He's investigating a crime scene with Scott and Logan…that darned Kick drug has struck again."

"Shame," Julian said. "They were asking again in telepathy about it. Which, incidentally, I'm still failing."

Jean's smile widened. "Do you mind if I share a little story with you two while you wait? It might help to pass the time."

Julian looked at Laura. "Um, sure," he said. "If you don't mind."

"Yes," Laura said, curious. She'd enjoyed seeing the last display Jean had shown her, the Phoenix creating the universe.

"Good," Jean said. "Come in."

They got up and followed her into her beautiful mahogany office, the door closing seemingly by itself behind them. Julian was surprised that her telekinesis  
had no color to it; his always made a big glow around whatever object he was lifting or affecting.

"Have a seat," she said, two plush chairs zooming to position themselves in front of her desk. She herself sat down on the chair behind the big desk. Julian  
and Laura sat down—and they were no longer in the office. The walls melted away in searing, blinding heat; white heat.

Jean had changed, transformed. Some sort of white material had wrapped itself around her body, and the strange, golden bird emblem was painted on her  
breast.

She leaned forwards; the desk had disappeared.

_**Do you remember what you are? **_she asked Julian. Her voice filled the room, although her lips did not move.

He shook his head, confused. Laura watched, intrigued, as the bird-woman touched his chest, and the gold on her chest seemed to flow through her fingers and  
paint itself on his. He inhaled sharply.

"Oh…oh, god, yes…" he looked at Laura, alarmed. "It's all repeating itself…"

"Huh?" Laura asked, confused. She felt she was missing something.

The true Phoenix and Julian stared at each other. It seemed they were conversing mentally, privately. "I'm still here, you know," Laura said, irritated.

Julian turned to Laura, and she took a step back. It wasn't just the weird thing still glowing dimly on his chest; it was his expression. She wasn't used to having him  
look at her like she was the only thing in the world that mattered to him.

Especially after he'd looked more like he wanted to bite her head off, lately.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Laura, I'm so sorry, I didn't do it right. I couldn't make your life better. I…" he looked distressed, and at a loss for words. "Here."

He moved to touch her forehead; Laura leaned back, her eyes wide. "What the hell—Keller—are you off your rocker?"

"Trust me," he said, his eyes burning white.

Laura stopped moving backwards; his fingers touched her forehead.

Her world split down the middle. One side was filled with her life; her mother, her fights, her life at the mansion, the abduction, her situation with Keller—and the other  
half was filled with something else entirely. A horrible childhood of loneliness and death and sterility, mixed with another life at the mansion—entirely different; she was  
confused and scared and there was something about her and Julian…

"Oh," she said. "OH."

_**One way or another, everything happens again, **_Jean said, her expression deathly serious. _**You cannot stop what has occurred, only change the order, and the way  
they happen. All realities move in balance. What you do now will affect this one later.**_ Laura blinked; she and Julian were seeing something else in the walls. A war torn  
world, terrible to behold. Laura could make out heads and other body parts on pikes; people eating people, buildings being destroyed…

Julian swallowed. "This happens if the baby _doesn't_ survive, doesn't it?" he asked.

Jean tilted her head in what he took to be silent acknowledgment.

The walls cleared, and they were seated in Jean's office again, surrounded by bookcase-filled walls. The clock ticked in rhythm. "I hope that will help you come to a decision,  
somewhat," Jean said, still smiling. "I believe Hank has arrived. Don't be too concerned about the disorientation…you won't remember much past today."

Julian and Laura left the office, both dizzy.

**…  
**

Laura had a headache. Her world continued to be split; she felt like she had two sets of responses for everything. One was her normal, headstrong, crude self; the  
second was a silent, cautious girl who spoke in monosyllables, and didn't understand situations so clearly, although she was quite brilliant.

They'd just finished their meeting with Dr. McCoy; after Jean's intermission, it had come as no earth-shattering surprise that it was Julian's. He had handled the appointment,  
telling their doctor-slash-professor that they would come back with their decision. He kept his hand on Laura's lower back as they left the office, concerned. She allowed herself  
to be steered; of all the places, he took her up to the roof.

"Laura…" he shifted his hands in his pockets. "I…I'm sorry I've been so awful to you…I didn't remember…I did tell you, I'm a bit of a jerk…"

"My head hurts," Laura said. She looked across the grounds.

"I tried to fix everything. I fucked up, like I usually seem to do…" he reached out and touched her cheek, his hand shaking slightly.

"Why did you tell me to abort it?" She asked slowly.

"Because I'm not very smart," he said. "I didn't realize—last time—what it would mean, either. I don't want you to do that, really." He swallowed. "This is a second chance.  
Please…help me not screw it up."

"Is this just because of what Jean said?" Laura asked, looking down.

"No." Julian touched her elbows. "Laura…I think I tried to tell you before…I love you…I got angry…I didn't think you returned the feeling…you pushed me away so much…"

Laura drew her eyebrows together. "You…I thought…that you were still with Sofia. You did not truly want me. You did not tell me that you had severed your association with her."

Julian shook his head. "I do, I want you," he said. "I'm just not so gifted with…feelings, I guess. "Look…can we just pick up from here?

Laura looked away. "I…I do not know. I need time to think. The offspring will be born…but beyond that…"

He rubbed his face and nodded. "Okay."


	12. 3: Genitrix 1:6 an inconveniant truth

**A/N: **Read on, my pretties... note: Laura says something that may be offensive to readers, keep in mind this is not my opinion at all. I myself have a disability and have  
heard many jokes about it so I definitley know what it's like. It just fits with Laura's character.

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Genitrix" 3 Issue: 1/6 )**

 **Chapter 41: an inconvenient truth **

* * *

He woke up that evening briefly in his room, and saw that Laura was still curled in the chair across from him, fast asleep. He looked  
out the window, watching the rain fall; they'd both missed several classes, but he figured it didn't really matter. He couldn't imagine  
Summers penalizing them after what they'd been through.

Julian watched the sleeping girl and wondered why their lives seemed to revolve around each other. It was like his other life, the  
one the Phoenix had showed him, was a very foggy room in the back of his head. It had been much clearer yesterday. Now, he  
wondered what was going to happen, with conditions as he knew them. He hated to think about how nasty Laura would get with  
extra hormones…and oh, god, he'd have to tell his parents, who would not be impressed…and he'd have to introduce her…and…  
she looked uncomfortable.

Frowning, he carefully floated her over to the bed and pulled the covers around her form. Her eyelids fluttered; she curled into a ball,  
but remained asleep.

**…**

Laura rolled over on the empty bed, and looked up, alarmed. It was Tuesday morning; she had a million classes and she was already  
late for one, and another appointment with Dr. McCoy…She bounded out of bed and tore open the dresser drawer to begin; but was  
confused to see a row of boxers.

"Started with the privacy invasion already?" Julian was pulling on a t-shirt in the bathroom doorway.

"…" Laura took a breath. "No, I forgot where I was, Mr. Dumbass. I have to go get my stuff. I'll see you in Bio, I guess. Going to sit beside  
me again?"

"Guess so," Julian answered, his eyebrow raised. Laura seemed to be herself; she'd been talking funny yesterday. He cleared his throat.

"I think you're going to have to move in, too."

Laura stopped, her hand on the doorknob. "WHAT?" she asked, horrified at the thought. Her freedom…her precious freedom…

"Well…unless you want whatever-it-is to start off life from a broken home…"

Laura grinned. "It's related to _you_. Of course it's going to be miserable. I have ten bucks on autism."

Julian threw a pillow at the closing door. "I won't even dignify that with an answer," he yelled after her. He could hear her laughing as she  
walked away.

**…  
**

"Are you guys back together?" Beak asked, his bird-like-eyes wide as he observed

Laura glared at the boy. "Hardly. What's it to you, Bohusk?"

"Nothing." He flipped a page in his Bio textbook. "You both looked really unhappy before, and you were sitting separately. Simple deductions."

"None of your business, though," Keller pointed out.

"Jeez. I'm just trying to be helpful." Bohusk squawked. "Angel and I used to have lots of problems before…"

"Before the kids," Julian said, suddenly seeing Bohusk in a new light. Someone he could ask a few questions of. His father wasn't going to be that  
much help; he hadn't spent any time with his kids. But Bohusk here…he filed it away in his mental notes. "Hey man, what's your name? I'm Julian."

He reached around Laura's back, offering his hand.

"Oh, I'm Barnell," the odd boy answered, meeting the handshake with a handful of talons. A feather remained in Julian's hand afterwards.

"Sorry, I'm molting," the boy said, his eyes half-closed. "Don't worry about it," Julian said, putting the feather on the table. He considered the irony—  
Bohusk, as weird and freakishly repulsive as he was, had gotten a girl pregnant—and here he was, thinking about asking him for advice, and _his_ little  
accident hadn't even been the natural way.

Laura made no comment.

**…**

"So…Christmas break…it's two weeks away." Julian started. "I've been thinking, I need to meet your mother."

Laura dropped the bean on her fork. "You? Meet my mother?" She seemed to think this was a funny idea, as she laughed. "I don't bring _boys _home to my _mother_,  
Keller, especially not you. And especially when I'm not on speaking terms with her. Or you, really, either, for that matter."

"Well, I think you're going to make an exception," he said, annoyed. "This whole anger at your mother…you have some shit to work out, Laura. So your mom did  
something unethical. Do you want me to start on _my_ parents? I don't even want to think about the horrible things they've done to get their money."

She picked up the bean again, with her fork. "Did they create you in a lab test-tube, from half a chromosome left over from some mutant subject their department  
had basically raped? Did they then carry you to term, knowing what kind of life was planned for you?"

"No," Julian said. "But I'm pretty sure they were involved in the Genosha incident."

Laura dropped the bean again. "And you continue to use their money!" she said.

He flushed. "I don't like it. What can I do, though? They're my parents."

Laura was silent. She finally ate the bean.

"And us…"

"Don't start," Laura said icily.

**…  
**

"A word, Keller," Logan growled. Julian turned, frozen to the spot; he had the funny feeling this had occurred before.

"I don't intend to follow you into any dark corners," he said warily. "You can tell me here."

Logan chuckled; then his hand snaked out and he pinned the younger man up against the wall by his shirt collar. "All the same to me. Laura told me you knocked her up."

Julian grabbed his wrist. "Did she tell you _how_, too?" he demanded, figuring it would be just like her to omit that important detail. She was probably laughing to herself right now.

"Mmmhmm," Logan said. "Good. I'd have to kill you if it was a traditional mistake. I know Laura's too smart, though, to let a little snot like _you _get in her pants." He grinned. "Just  
makin' sure you're going to be a man about it, is all," he said. "Laura don't tell me much, but I gathered you're a bit of a jerk and not all that clear on how to treat a lady…thought  
I'd clear it up for you."

"Logan! What the hell!" Laura grabbed his shoulder, her eyes furious. "I thought I told you not to go near him!"

"We're just havin' a little discussion," Logan said, his knuckles pressing into Julian's throat. "Helping him out a bit."

"Let him go," Laura said, fuming. "I don't need anyone else to keep him in line."

Julian slipped back to his feet, Logan's fingers relaxing. He rubbed his throat; his shirt had left a bright red line across his windpipe. Laura was now yelling at Logan, her claws out.

He admired her audacity—yelling at Wolverine.

"You didn't concern yourself for fourteen _years_ with my existence, why would you start now?! Don't try to 'help' me anymore, I do far better on my own!"

Logan folded his arms. "Wind down, half-pint. Matters like this are different. Your mom and I had an agreement…I stayed away so I wouldn't fuck up your life more. I'm not the regular  
9 to 5 type. Things get dangerous when I'm around. But now…you can take care of yourself around danger now…so yes, I'm gonna be involved every chance I get."

Laura blinked.

"I need to throw up," she announced suddenly. Both men backed away, alarmed.

**…**

"Hey, Barnell," Julian said, as he spotted the odd boy standing against the Bio classroom door. Laura wasn't coming today; she was lying in bed, sick. She'd demanded that he go  
and bring her notes; he'd agreed readily, not really wanting to watch her nibble crackers and then puke them up every five minutes.

She was still trying out different suppressant medications.

"Hello, Julian," Barnell said in his nasally voice. He held his book against his chest with his elbows, unable to bend his wrists in the right direction.

"How's Angel and the…uh, kids?" Julian asked. Every time he saw Barnell, now, he had tried to raise up a conversation, having hoped he could ask him questions when the time came.

It was an unusual action for him; to offer friendship to someone as odd as Barnell. Before he'd met Laura—again—he'd stuck to the more 'elite' mutants at the school.

"Oh, fine, fine," Bohusk squawked. "Tito is teething. He bit Angel today when she was nursing him. Axel said his first word today, 'bird-brain'."

Julian shuddered. "Were you…upset…when you found out Angel was preggos?"

Barnell blinked. "Upset? I was terrified! I thought I had made Angel pregnant with monster babies! It made me crazy with pure terror. And then when she had larvae in five days…"

Julian steeled himself. He had asked, after all. "What, only five days?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"Yes, for Angel's DNA is like that of a fly, and so her pregnancy was much shorter than that of a human's."

Julian felt like throwing up himself, suddenly realizing that Laura's physiology was accelerated, too…he might not have much more time. And if there was more than one—

"How many are there?"

Barnell shifted. "Six! Half can fly."

Julian felt dizzy. _Pleasegodjustone, _he thought miserably.

"Are they—ugly?" he asked.

"NO!" Barnell startled him with a squawk. A feather drifted away and landed near Julian's shoes. "They are my babies and I love them. But they are beautiful! You and Laura should  
come and see them sometime. We live on the school grounds, in a house made just for us."

"Oh," Julian said. "I'll ask her. Umm…can I tell you something, without you telling anyone else? Even Angel?" He happened to know that Angel Salvadore was quite a loudmouth gossip.  
He'd tested the theory before, making something up about someone and saying it aloud near her while pretending to be on the phone; the gossip had reached him in a full circle a  
week later.

Barnell's eyes narrowed. "And what might that be that I could not tell my love?"

"Well…I don't want anyone else to know…" Julian rubbed his neck. "It's not really my info to be spreading, you know. I just want some advice with it."

Barnell made a tiny _squawk_. "Go on."

"Uh…well…I kind of—knocked up Laura. There's a whole story to it…but yeah, I'm going to have to deal with it…" he flushed. "Thing is, I don't know _any_ guys who have really  
stuck around for their kids…my dad wasn't around much when I was younger…and I have the feeling _she's _going to make me help her."

Barnell tilted his head and squawked again. "You and Laura should come see the babies," he said again. "They are what convinced me. I could not leave them if I tried,  
they are beautiful!"

"So you've said," Julian mumbled. Dr. McCoy arrived and let them into the classroom, smiling to himself; he'd overheard the conversation from down the hall, and was pleased to  
note that Julian seemed to be turning around.

**…**

Christmas break arrived, and Julian knocked on Laura's door.

She opened it, looking bleak and drawn; he brandished two airplane tickets to Seattle in her face. "Pack your bags, we leave on the three o' clock flight."

Laura's eyes widened. "Keller—are you crazy? I'm not leaving the school!"

"Non-refundable," he said calmly. "It looks like you haven't showered…you go clean yourself up, I'll get your stuff. You have a suitcase, right?"

She studied him warily. "Yes, but—"

"Where?" He pushed past her. The room was a mess, and there were claw marks on some of the furniture; a few blood splats on the carpet, and one small area that  
looked like it might have started out as food. He raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I know, it's messy," Laura said sarcastically. "I wasn't expecting company."

"Messy? This is a pigsty. Or a cockroach farm, your pick. Where's the suitcase?"

"The wardrobe…but I'm not going."

Julian placed the tickets on the bedside table, then put his hands on Laura's shoulders and steered her into the bathroom (she tried to resist, her heels skidding on  
the carpet, but he was stronger). He shoved her into the shower and turned it on.

"ARRGH! I'm still dressed!" she shouted, the water rolling down her hair.

"I see that," he said, grinning. "Take it off then."

"You're still here," she scowled.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," he said, touching her chin. She drew back; she wasn't used to touching him—or having Julian touch her—without some kind of anger  
involved. And she hadn't forgiven him yet.

"Keller…" she said, peering back at him through her soaking-wet hair with a scowl. "I haven't exactly forgotten what a jerk you were, in case you haven't noticed how _  
angry_ I am at you. We wouldn't be talking if we didn't have to."

He shrugged and turned away

"Your call. What do you want to bring?"

"I'm not going!" Laura called, standing in the still-running shower with all her clothes on. She felt helpless.

"Yes you are," Julian said. "Your choice: either you tell me what you want, or I pack what _I_ want, and I drag you on the plane."

Laura shivered. She had _a lot_ of clothing she did not wear around her mother. _And_ she knew he could technically back up his threat.

"Um..."


	13. 3: Genitrix 2:6 mother dear

**A/N: **Yup, this chapter is pretty good XcD enjoy!

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Genitrix" 3 Issue: 2/6 )**

 **Chapter 42: mother dear **

* * *

The metal detector beeped. Julian looked behind himself, suddenly wondering why it hadn't occurred to him that Laura would not be able to pass regular  
airport security.

"Ma'am, you have to remove any metal on your person, including jewelry and watches."

Laura flicked her tongue out, showing a metal stud. Julian inhaled sharply—he didn't know she had piercings, never having really kissed her. Except that  
one in Biology class, with a professor watching…but that was hardly countable. "I'm not taking it out, it's a bitch to get back in…and it gets infected easily," she said.

The security officers looked at each other. "Ma'am, we need you to take it out so we can tell if you're carrying any weapons."

"Do I _look_ like I'd be carrying a weapon?" she asked. "You can strip-search me if you want. I don't feel like struggling for an hour with my tongue piercing and missing  
my flight…and then spending my whole visit with a mouth infection that may or may not require surgery." She stared the man down. "I _do_ have the money for a lawyer,  
you know."

"Do a pat down," he said after a moment. A female security guard completed the task; Julian was impressed. He wouldn't have been able to pull that off himself.

"I didn't know your tongue was pierced," he said.

Laura flicked her tongue across her teeth, showing off the stud. "It's my little airport routine," she said. She grinned and shoved ahead of him through the revolving  
spindle on the walkway.

"Bitch," he mumbled.

**…  
**

"It's weird to be knocking at the front door, instead of sneaking in through the window," Laura said bluntly as they trudged up through the snow to the front door. It  
was still cold; Julian could see his breath, and wondered how she could traipse around in such a short jacket without so much as a shiver. He wished he could touch her  
without her glaring at him like he was Hitler and asking him what the hell he was doing.

"I'm sure it'll be a nice change for your mom," he said.

Laura snorted in annoyance and rolled her eyes, her face buried amongst the fur of her collar. She was like a stubborn Shetland pony—or perhaps a mischievous, pouty child  
that he had to keep his eye on constantly. Only an hour ago, she'd tried to misdirect the taxi driver—for the third time. Julian had had to beckon the driver outside and have a  
brief discussion about where they were _really_ trying to go; he'd also had to tip the man quite well to soothe his angry, jittered nerves.

"Are you going to ring the bell?" he asked, after about two minutes had passed with Laura kicking at the snow idly.

"You've got two perfectly good hands," she said. "HEY!"

Julian had grabbed her hand with one of his gloves ones, and with the other he flexed her fingers straight then pressed them to the bell before she could pull them away.

"There you go."

"Have fun!" she said, bolting as the door began to open. "Hold the fuck on!" Julian yelled, grabbing her jacket collar; it slipped off her shoulders and she took off down the road.  
He felt awkward; Laura's mother, a pretty, middle-aged woman with many of her features was standing with the door open, watching the odd scene. Julian flushed.

"Um, hi. I…um…Laura…" he rubbed his neck. "Laura was supposed to be here. I have her jacket…"

Sarah Kinney sighed and opened the door wider. "Come in, she will be a while."

**…  
**

"It's nice to meet a friend of Laura's," Ms. Kinney said, pouring a cup of tea for her unexpected guest. "She doesn't have many friends. I…I worry about her sometimes;  
she's so willful. Like her…father."

Julian looked away. He didn't know if that one word alone quite covered her.

"Think she'll come back?"

"I'm quite sure she's gone to see her cousin, Megan…her best friend. My sister Debbie will send her home in time." Sarah smiled slightly. Julian found it strange to think  
that volatile Laura could have emerged from such a soft-spoken woman, regardless of whether or not DNA was concerned.

"Nice house you have," he said, trying to be polite. It wasn't bad—certainly not the kind of house his parents kept, but nice nonetheless. It had wood floors, a nice kitchen  
table, fairly new appliances. It was clean and there were paintings of fruit and things on the wall; a few abstract ones too, quite interesting looking.

His eyes were drawn to a peculiar one of a bird, a black splotch of paint on a dark dark red canvas, somewhat like the emblem that had spread onto his chest when  
Jean Grey-Summers had opened the strange memory rooms in his and Laura's minds.

"Laura painted that," Sarah said, following his gaze.

"She paints?" he asked, startled.

"Mmm. Surprising, isn't it? She did all of these paintings, actually. I couldn't paint to save my life." She smiled slightly.

Julian examined the other paintings. They somewhat resembled stick figures; there was a lot of red, and black, and some white streaks. They looked violent, and very  
odd beside the calm fruit-bowl paintings, which were also presumably done by Laura.

"What else can she do?" he asked, realizing there were entire areas of Laura's life that he knew nothing about.

Sarah tilted her head. "Oh, lots. She's a very talented girl. She can write…Laura's an extremely gifted writer…and she's quite musical too…she loves the piano, and the violin.  
And the guitar. When she was younger, about eight or so, she used to perform at concerts. She used to sing, too."

"You're kidding," he said. "Laura?"

Sarah sighed. "Laura…changed. She was very quiet and mild as a child…but when she reached maturity, she began to remember what was done to her…she denies it, but I am  
sure she remembers. She began to act out…she got into many fights at school…she's been arrested for disturbances…she'd come home drunk all the time…I'm fairly certain she's  
even done drugs." Sarah frowned. "I hope I haven't deterred you…but then again, to have come with her, you must have known all this. Are you from the school?"

"Yes," he answered. "I said 'hi' to you, that one time, when you were coming from Ms. Frost's office. I think you were a little busy."

"Oh," Sarah covered her mouth. "No, I remember. I'm sorry. Laura was…"

"…upset," Julian offered. "Yeah, I know what she's like."

"You must be 'Hellion', then. Logan has mentioned you…he keeps me updated on how Laura is doing."

Julian nodded. "That's me. I…did he say anything else?"

Sarah raised her eyebrow. "Only one other thing; that Laura might be coming to see me…something about some news. He thought it best that she tell me herself."

Julian shifted uncomfortably. "Probably," he agreed.

"Tell you what?"

They turned. Laura was standing in the doorway, dripping snow on the floor. She looked pink from her excursion, and was wearing a jacket that obviously did not belong to her;  
also, an expression that made it plain that she was uncertain about being here at all.

"Laura…" Sarah stood up; the girl eyed her warily. "I'm…very happy to see you, sweetheart. Let me get you a towel."

"I'm fine," Laura said.

"I just washed the floor, though," Sarah said practically. Laura grudgingly accepted the towel, and followed her mother into the kitchen. "I hate your tea, you _know_ that," she  
whined as her mother fetched another mug.

"I can make you hot chocolate," Sarah said calmly.

"Fine," Laura grumbled. She sat on a chair at the end of the table, away from both Julian and her mother. He watched her with raised eyebrows.

"Did you go and see Megan?" Sarah asked, as if there wasn't a stranger in her kitchen that Laura hadn't introduced, and as if she hadn't been on bitter, estranged terms  
with her daughter for almost half a year. Laura shrugged.

"So what if I did?"

Sarah stirred the cocoa without comment.

"Yes," Laura admitted. She looked at Julian and made a face. "Mom…this is, uh…it goes to my school," she grinned. "It's name is Keller."

"Really," Sarah said. "'It' introduced himself as Julian. You shouldn't misuse people's names, sweetheart, it's bad manners."

"Did you hear that, Keller?" Laura said. "You're bad manners."

"Laura." Sarah's eyes flashed, and she pursed her lips; Julian suddenly saw the smallest resemblance to her daughter in her manner. There was the fire, still  
there—just far better concealed. He felt like grinning and coughed to conceal it.

"I am not apologizing," Laura declared. "What are you going do, ground me in front of him? I thought you learned it doesn't work on clones like me."

Julian could tell she felt uncomfortable.

"So, yeah, I know this is sort of last minute…" he started out firmly, knowing he'd have to take the lead in all things related to the purpose of this trip.

"Do you mind if I, uh, stay with you guys while I'm here with Laura?"

"Yes, I mind," Laura said. "Get a hotel, you pervert. You're just hoping to walk in on me in the bathroom."

"For heaven's sakes, Laura. Yes, you may stay." Sarah placed a mug in front of her difficult daughter. Julian was again amazed at Laura's audacity;  
she was acting like a mouthy five year old.

He wondered how Laura would handle her own five-year-old, and coughed again.

"Laura, why don't you help Julian carry your suitcases upstairs? Show him where he can stay." She eyed her daughter; Laura's eyes flashed.

"Come on, Keller, you heard the woman." she said, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him behind her, to the hallway, where their suitcases waited patiently.

"Methinks you should carry them all," she said once they were out of earshot of the kitchen. She grinned and rubbed her belly. "Circumstances considered and all.  
It'd be risky for me to break my back lugging your underwear up the stairs."

"Mmm," Julian said. He followed Laura up the staircase, the luggage drifting behind him (like he was going to break a sweat when it was really that easy); he reached  
the landing just in time to see Laura disappearing into the room at the end of the hallway. "You can put them here," she called.

He peered in, the two cases landing neatly at the foot of the bed. "This is your room," he commented suspiciously. Indeed it seemed to be Laura's—there was her artwork  
all over the walls, as well as band posters, and a few pictures; claw marks in one wall; a computer, a closet half-open filled with her clothes. And bit of dried blood on the carpet;  
and a collection of empty booze bottles on a shelf above her bed.

"Ah-heh," Laura grinned, picking up a bottle and examining it fondly. "No shit."

"I know what you're planning, and the answer is no," Julian said firmly. "I'm going in the guest room, no two ways about it. Your mom is a nice lady, and I'm not gonna lie  
just to help you hurt her. You wouldn't touch me otherwise and you know it." He folded his arms at her, promising himself that he wouldn't back down, no matter what she did.

Laura ran her tongue over her teeth, showing the stud again. She placed the bottle back on the shelf.

"Fine. Act like you're not desperate enough to do anything for some," she said. "You don't fool me, Keller. I can smell every hormonal process in your body, hear your heart  
rate…I can even tell you where the blood's going." She tilted her head. "Incidentally, I don't know if you noticed that I've never, ever done anything to you in the few times  
I allowed your grubby paws to touch me."

Julian raised his eyebrows and shifted. "And?"

Laura leaned over the bed, her hand on the bedpost. He had to admit, she instinctively knew how to position herself in the most provocative way possible, without checking  
to make sure that goodies were showing.

"…it just doesn't mean that I don't know _how_ to do things," she grinned.

Julian turned his back on her, afraid he'd give in. She looked quite inviting…he had no doubt that she'd put out, just to spite her mother. And be loud. But…no.

He heard her jump over the bed (by the squeak of the bedsprings) and suddenly she was pressed up against his back, her lips at his ear and her hands sliding  
around his waist to his stomach.

"Huh, nice abs. You work out, huh?" she purred. Her pinky dipped into his belly button.

"Stop it."

"I've even let you sample the product first, Keller," she suggested. "Strings-free. Right here…there's a bed…or the floor if you prefer…or the wall…she's downstairs…  
won't hear a thing…and I'm _really_ good, you know…"

"Someone's got a little ego all of their own," he commented dryly, seizing her hands and yanking them away from his body.

"Must be your behbeh," she grinned wickedly.

"Laura…" he held her hands in front of her. "I won't lie, I'm tempted. But as big of a jerk as I can be, I'm not _that_ bad. What you got me to say to you in the mansion…actually,  
I'm surprised that shit came out of my face. But I'm not doing it again…if anything ever happens between us again, it's not going to be to hurt someone else, got it?"

Her hands fell to her sides; Julian raised his own and his suitcase followed him.

"Now show me the _right_ room, please."

Laura watched him go, then sighed.

"Alright, fine, _je-eez_. You're no fun. You going to pass those party pooper genes to my….offspring? Killjoy Keller."


	14. 3: Genitrix 3:6 polly

**A/N: **

First: OMG yayayyayay! I wons a scholarship! I has been noticed fer my smertness!  
Second: I've considered getting my tongue pierced before, too. My friends have pierced tongues, they said it isn't painful. I thought I'd finish doing my ears  
first though. I have the regular lobe piercings...I want to get two more lobe-piercings per ear and then maybe, _maybe_ a cartilage one. Laura's cousin isn't  
written too much in this arc...I might at some point in time have them return for a visit though. I have huge arcs coming up in the future...it's quite amazing  
the amount of ideas I got for this story. Yay! and AWWW...I can't believe people talk about my story! Sorry for all the profanities, Miss Nunya, but (I'm  
sure you'll agree) the characters just wouldn't be the same without them. They are after all teenagers...lol. Tell your sister to hurry and grow up so she  
can read it too! XcD hehe

** SONG CHAPTER: **nirvana "polly"

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Genitrix" 3 Issue: 3/6 )**

 **Chapter 43: polly **

* * *

That night, in the dark, he rolled over in the quite-comfortable bed, and found a body that was definitely not connected to his own. "What the fuck…" he  
moaned and pushed Laura away. "Go…back to your own room, missy. I thought I made it clear last night…you said I was a party pooper and everything."

"I was lonely," Laura mumbled. She sat at the edge of the bed, wearing a tank top and a pair of underwear. He squinted; in the dark he could make out  
the words "Happy Bunny" and a picture of a smiling white rabbit on her breast.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said. "You don't _do_ girl crap. Really…Happy Bunny?"

"Yes," Laura said, looking at the rug. "It's snowing outside, and I'm cold."

Julian laid back on the bed, his arms folded behind his head. "So go put pants on," he said, letting his eyes slide shut. "Close the door behind you. The  
room will get freezing cold when you leave, 'coz you bring hell with you wherever you go."

Laura yanked the covers off him. "Jerk. Why'd you make me come here? I don't _want_ to be here."

"Thought you didn't want to be at the mansion," he said, arching his eyebrows. "You told me you hated it there. In addition to, well, the obvious, I thought  
I'd try to do something nice for you."

"This isn't better," Laura said, looking at her hands. "The only cool thing here is Megan…and she's got a _boyfriend _now, ugh…" Her face twisted in disgust.  
Julian almost laughed at the irony, but it was two thirty in the morning, and Ms. Kinney probably would not appreciate being awoken by the noise.

"Look, spitfire…go back to bed. To your bed. We're here for a reason…which _you_ want to keep…but we'll do something tomorrow. Okay?"

"I can't sleep," she whined.

"Oh, but I can," he mumbled. He realized that this was Laura's newest way of keeping him miserable—if she couldn't get him to cooperate with her plans to  
upset her mother, she was going to punish him, too. He kept his eyes closed, determined to ignore her; she scooted over and laid her head on his chest.

"Damnit, Laura!" He pushed her away. "I'm not comfortable with you being here right now. I told you…no."

"God, fine," she sighed. He opened his eyes a crack a second later to make sure she was really gone; then nudged the door shut with his mind and tried to  
get back to a fitful sleep.

**…  
**

"Good morning," Sarah said, as Julian rounded the corner. He hoped he wasn't limping; Laura had relented for the evening, but had resumed her strange  
attack in the morning, trying to tempt him into giving in.

He'd been in the shower, minding his own business, when she'd popped the lock with her claws and "walked in on him" (something he'd found especially ironic  
after her comment the night previous). She'd just stood there and stared at him—and despite the creepiness, he'd found himself turned on so much by her  
directness that he'd just stared back for a while, forgetting to demand that she leave. _And_ goddamn, her sleepwear was far skimpier by proper lighting.

It had been an odd minute.

"Oh…sorry," she'd said, curling her lip in challenge.

Her voice had snapped him out of the trance. "Out," he'd said, and when she hadn't complied, he'd turned her around with his mind, then closed and locked  
the door after her.

Although his intentions were good, his patience was wearing; he was, after all, young, and male. He didn't know how long he could hold out under such  
extreme tests. There was also the fact that he _knew_ this eagerness would disappear as soon as they left her home; he was sure of it. Laura would go  
back to don't-touch-me-mode, so he couldn't even promise himself a time of relief.

"Hi," he answered, his hands in his pockets. He felt awkward; it was awkward to spend the night in a stranger's house, because of her daughter, who didn't  
even like him—and knowing what he would later have to explain to her. He tried to remind himself that Sarah, by no means, was naïve; she had, after all,  
created Laura by this very kind of experiment. Except it was cloning, not…

"Laura's outside," she said. "She mentioned that she wanted a tree, and said to send you out when you were finished."

Julian blinked, then headed for the hallway.

**…  
**

"ARRGH!" Julian stepped out the back door and was hit in the face by a very large snowball. He wiped the snow away, his cheeks red from cold and  
embarrassment; then he tried to figure out where Laura was standing.

"Look…you don't want to get into a snowball fight with me, okay?" he said. "I kind of have an unfair advantage. You wouldn't win, so don't start it—  
THE FUCK!" He'd been shielding his front, but suddenly his jacket was yanked down his shoulders and an enormous load of snow was poured down  
his bare back. He gasped—he'd just _checked_ behind himself. How had she…

"Thanks…" he groaned as Laura smiled at him innocently.

"You looked like you needed a cold shower," she said.

Julian glared at her. "Your mom…said you wanted a tree," he said, pinching his shirt away so the snow dropped down his back. "That sounds oddly  
domestic for you."

Laura shrugged. "It's…it's the offspring's first Christmas…might as well. Any holiday that calls for pointless death of biological organisms is cause for  
celebration!" She grinned. "Oh, and in my imaginings…when you tell my mom you knocked me up, I always picture a nice decorated tree in the  
background. It's a handy source for ammo, glass balls…you can kill someone with the right jagged edge, you know."

"I didn't…" Julian shook his head and followed her; she was already not listening. "Oooh! Look, my cousin and her boyfriend!" she said, pointing down  
the road. "Here's another chance for you to get a freebie, Keller. Pretend you're all over me and I'll reward you."

"I'm not a dog. I won't do things for treats. MMMPH!" He'd made the mistake of walking too close; she'd suddenly grabbed him and kissed him, so hard  
his breath was expelled in a frosty puff. He pushed her away angrily. "Laura…"

"My bad….not them," she said, her hands still around his neck. "Sorry, I got you all psyched up and now I withdraw the offer. Hardly seems fair, huh?"

She leaned closer. "We're not in the house…my mother isn't involved in this…"

"You're up to something," he said, looking away. "There's no way you just suddenly forgave me, overnight. We haven't spoken about…it…since."

"What if I saw something I liked?" Laura asked quietly. "Maybe I don't have a motive for _everything._" She moved to kiss him again.

"Like hell. You just threatened me with glass Christmas ornaments." He didn't pull away, this time though; his hands encircled her waist and even pressed  
her tighter, to meet her. He shouldn't…"..." he didn't think he could stop now if he tried, she'd worked him up too much. Laura tasted like some kind of spice;  
and it was familiar, like something he'd missed for a very long time. Kind of like the way he missed his grandma's cooking…but with a burning intensity.

He was hungry.

"Oh my fuck!" a voice broke the silence that had fallen, and it wasn't Laura's. Julian pulled away, furious; a girl with shaggy brown hair and a knit cap—and  
Laura's green eyes—was staring at them with sick fascination.

"Rude," Laura said, her curiously slanted eyes narrowing at her cousin. "Did I interrupt you and your—"

"Yes! Yes, you did," Megan said. "As I remember, you pretended a kamikaze raid was occurring, and you full-body slammed me."

Julian pushed Laura away and it was his turn to stomp off. He'd really believed her this time, stupid. Laura had pressed all his buttons the right way  
and he'd been quite ready to believe her.

"What's got his goat?" Megan asked.

"A sick pervo goat fetishist?" Laura offered, grinning.

"I missed you, Laura. It's so boring here without you."

**…  
**

Julian ignored how awkward it was to barge into someone else's house and tantrum up the stairs. He spared Sarah the slammed door, however; closing  
it gently behind himself. He stood in the room, not knowing what to do, but knowing he had to do it quick, because otherwise he was going to cry…yes,  
cry, something he hadn't done since...

Or throw a very violent power tantrum, which he was leaning towards.

"Fucking bitch," he fumed. The door opened. "Go away! Laura, you're sick, and I want to be alone for a while!"

"I'm not Laura."

"OH—" he turned around, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Ms. Kinney. I—well, I don't know what to say."

Sarah frowned. "It's quite alright…I heard you come in angry. I'm sure Laura was behind it…she can be a bit… cruel…sometimes."

"Understatement," he said, sniffng. "She's…well, I think she's a bit crazy. Just my opinion. I'm trying so hard to keep her happy and…"

"Are you two an item?" Sarah asked quietly.

"What?—No. I mean, I kind of wish…" Julian flushed. "She's always hated me. She leads me on though…in this winding downward spiral…and then I said  
something to her in anger…she won't let it go, no matter how hard I try."

Sarah sighed. "You must understand…the intensity of what was done to her as a child. Though she says she does not remember…Laura's childhood was  
built on a base of cruelty." She looked at her hands. "I am sure you've met Kimura."

"What? Kimura? You mean…the crazy woman?" Julian remembered her quite clearly; he'd seen her rip Laura's claws out like they were thorns.

"I designed her," Sarah said miserably. "It was my…assignment." She waved her hand, seeing Julian's expression change to horror. "No. I did not know  
what she would be used for. God, my own daughter. I tried to kill myself when I realized. " She brushed her hair behind her ear. "I wasn't thinking clearly.  
Then I put my priorities in order…I contacted Logan. He was furious, for a good reason, but he was able to help me do what I could not…and through  
some kind of miracle, he let me repent my terrible sins by caring for Laura till she was old enough to choose what she wanted."

Julian folded his arms. "She doesn't know what she wants."

"Would you know what you want, if you were raised to do what others wanted, only? She was to be a tool…an assassin, for hire, and should the  
government have discovered the base, she was to be offered as a tool to ultimately hunt down other mutants…a bloodhound."

"Jesus Christ." Julian felt sick.

"Now…who do you think is a bit crazy? Me or Laura?" Sarah asked sadly. "Who's the bigger monster? Ask yourself that when Laura acts out, and  
you will learn to tolerate her actions, like I do. That is, if you feel anything for her." Sarah pressed her lips together and left the room.

_She's going to be thrilled about the latest development, _he thought bitterly.

**…  
**

All that day, Laura was absent; she finally showed up in the evening, an exhilarated smile dying on her face as she closed the kitchen door behind her  
and saw Julian and Sarah sitting at the table, waiting for her.

"Oh look…Aunt Debbie's got competition for the spot as your sister," Laura said sarcastically.

Julian frowned. "Laura…it's time."

"WHAT?" she said angrily. "Just like that…'it's time'. Fuck that! My evening's not over, and I'm not going to be _nagged_ by you."

He held her gaze; she stared back for a furious second, then suddenly she slammed her hands on the end of the table. "You want it?! FINE!" She yelled,  
her face turning red. "MOM! Guess what! That old place, you know, the one you WORKED FOR? WELL! They got me, AGAIN! Yeah, YOU and the old man  
didn't DO ENOUGH to keep me safe!!" Her voice wavered up and down in volume, her hands shook on the table; she pushed away from it angrily as her  
claws slid out. "So yeah, that's not the best part—WAIT FOR IT—I got away—all on my own—like always—and—yeah they left me with a little present!"

Her eyes were full of tears, but she wasn't crying. She was too full of pressure.

"Laura…" Sarah's eyes were wide.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" She shouted. "So like it wasn't enough. Now I'm full…I'm not me inside anymore…it's his. It's his fault! It's your fault too! I HATE BOTH  
OF YOU!" She grabbed the chair, flung it against the wall so hard a leg broke off, then dashed up the stairs and slammed the door, still not crying.

"This is so awkward," Julian said, burying his head in his arms.

A few minutes passed, then Sarah cleared her throat. "You—you should go upstairs and talk to her."

Julian looked up. "Sorry—are you _crazy_? She hates me."

"No—no she doesn't. If Laura hated you, she wouldn't have let you bring her here. And she certainly wouldn't be so upset at _you_ in particular."

Sarah held his gaze until he looked away, flushing. _Well, now I know where she gets _that_ from, too,_ he thought idly.

"Fine. Don't blame me if more of your stuff gets destroyed in the process." He got up, straightened his shirt, and left the room, his heart crawling up his throat.

He was afraid of Laura—he'd never seen her so angry, so out of her mind. After deliberating at the top of the stairs for about five minutes, he finally got  
up the courage to knock on her door.

"Laura?"

He twisted the handle, expecting to see blood, see her cutting, see an empty room with the window open, anything but what he did see. Laura sat,  
cross legged on the bed. She tilted her head as he entered the room, her eyes watching him true predator-style.

"Julian? What are you doing?"

She sounded different. There was no strain—only a vague curiosity. Asking that question when he couldn't figure out what _she_ was doing, herself.

"Are you okay?" he asked. He was afraid to step away from the door; he was afraid of the smaller girl sitting on the bed, the girl he was crazy about,  
the girl that _was_ crazy, 100 percent off her rocker.

"I am fine. I do not understand, though…the offspring was delivered. It was…taken." She drew her eyebrows together. "Why is it in me again? I am  
confused. I do not understand. Please, tell me."

He closed the door and approached the bed. "Laura…are you…thinking about the room? The White Hot Room thing?"

"I do not understand. Should I extract it?"

"Don't touch it, Laura," he said. He carefully reached out and put his palm on her stomach, hoping she wouldn't suddenly collapse and go ballistic or  
something. Laura watched him carefully, her eye whites flashing.

"Why do you smell of fear?"

"You're scaring me," he murmured. "Lie down for a bit. You should rest." He remembered that sleeping had caused her to reset last time; almost  
completely. He wondered if the room was different for her than it was for him. Thinking hard, he could just vaguely remember that the Laura of the  
room was different than the one he was used to.

"Your heart rate is too fast," she said, tilting her head. "Are you afraid of me? Of what I will do to you?" He pushed her back slowly, so she was lying  
on the bed. "I…love you…Julian. I would never hurt you," she said, almost sounding hurt.

"Are they coming?"

"No. I'll…I'll watch. You sleep."

"Julian?" She was looking at her hands now with half-closed eyes. "Where is your ring?" Her eyes slid shut the rest of the way, sparing him having to answer.

**…  
**

He stayed awake the rest of the night, watching Laura as she slept fitfully, making motions like a dreaming dog. He ran over and over in his mind what he  
knew of the room. He'd have to get Jean Grey-Summers to help Laura; she had been damaged somehow by the opening of that room. More damaged than  
the norm, that was.

Sometime around three in the morning, it seemed like Laura regained control; she sat up in bed, looking wild again. "Get the fuck out!" she hissed, grabbing  
her pillow and hurling it at him.

"No," he said firmly. "We need to talk about this, good and long."

"All you people do is talk!" Laura said turning her back to him. "Leave me alone. Not that I can even have _that_ anymore…this thing is inside me wherever I go.  
I hate it and I hate _you_ and I hate so much that it's yours."

"Would you rather it was someone else's?" he asked quietly.

Laura paused, and turned to him, her eyes wide. It seemed to confuse her, even though the answer seemed simple. "Come here," he mumbled, pulling  
her towards him and pressing his cheek in her hair, pressing kisses into it. "I'm so, so sorry it happened, but then again I'm so glad it was me."

She was silent, but some of the tears that had been poisoning her leaked out onto his shoulder. He continued to hold her till they were gone, then turned  
off the light with one hand and pulled the covers over her. "Don't leave, please," she said in a small voice.

"I'll stay," he promised.

**…  
**

"Wakeup!" Laura bounced on the bed eagerly. "I want breakfast! Breaaakfassst! It's hungry, yessssss, it wants eggs…" her voice was raspy. Oddly  
enough, he took this to mean she was back to normal.

"That's creepy," Julian yawned. "I'm sure 'it' is not dictating what you want to eat. The thing doesn't have taste buds yet."

Laura pouted. "You just called your child a thing!" she accused.

"It's too early for this," Julian pointed out reasonably. It was only six in the morning, and it was still dark out, seeing as it was winter. He stretched  
and realized he wasn't wearing anything.

"Laura! Where the fuck is my clothing?"

"It didn't like what you were wearing, noooo," Laura said, gurgling the 'no'.

"I told you we're not there yet," he said, sitting up. His action caused the blanket to drop on her side, and he let himself look for a moment. He was  
mesmerized. It didn't help with his morning problem. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," she said.

"I have a camera in my bag," he said, reaching out with his hand to summon it.

"Arrgh! No, I didn't mean literally."

She slipped her leg over his side; he stopped every motion, including breathing, and stared up at her. "Laura…" he croaked. "Don't. Please." She sat down  
on his lap and ran her hands over his chest and stomach, her expression unintelligible. He closed his eyes; her smaller, warm hands with their searching  
fingers were almost too much. He grabbed her wrists. "Nonono. Not here." He couldn't, after last night…

"I'll be quiet," she said, her expression serious. "No crap. Swear-to-God honest."

He blinked. "I don't have anything to…"

"A little late for that," Laura said, arching her eyebrows. She seemed to know exactly what she was doing. "No more excuses. Come on." She bent over and  
kissed him; that was it. He rolled on top of her and took over, urgent now that it was decided.

**…  
**

"Wow. Your baby's happy now."

"God, Laura, that's sick," he gagged. "Can you _not_ mention it right away? Oh, jeez, was it okay to do that? Did we hurt it?"

Laura shook her head. "It's happy. It might know your little fireman lost its helmet, though." She grinned. "Remember, I'm sexing for two now."

Julian laid his forearm across his face. "You'd be so nice if you never opened your mouth," he complained.

"Then I couldn't do certain things," she said loudly. "Like eat! Breaaakfassst! It still wants eggs, oh yessssss…"

"Yeah, I'm up," he said, pushing the covers away and reaching for his boxers.

"How long does it take to forget shit like this? Boinking a retard?"

"Not very long. I forgot already." Laura pulled on his shirt and stuck her tongue-stud out at him. "Hey! Get back here, you little minx…I need that," he said.

"Figures. I banged Julian Keller and all I got was this lousy t-shirt," she said, grinning and backing up; then she dashed out of the room, leaving him to ponder her actions.


	15. 3: Genitrix 4:6 Mi Casa es Su Casa

** NEWS **Just started a new story, Helix Volume 0: Year Zero (author's page). It's a prequel to Vol 1...told mostly from Julian's PoV but some Laura,  
leading up to Vol 1. Base on New X-men Childhood's end. Don't worry, still updating this one!

**A/N: **Thanks for all the conga rats!! I'm very happy about it too XcD

**Regarding this chapter: **The line "a bag of wet assholes" I owe entirely to my boyfriend. When made that up I just about died laughing.  
Also, Noel...really does exist! I met her during my ex's birthday party. I have written her true to character (except without the wealth). She  
was quite unbelievable. She was an ex of my (then) bf. I felt so sorry for him, haha. She proceeded, after the party, to text him no less than  
seven pages declaring her eternal love for him. It was awesome, I laughed so hard. Ah, good times...always something to laugh at.

**Miss Nunya: **Haha, I know EXACTLY what you mean. I mention X-men to my bf and his eyes zone out...  
_I love this chapter! The christmas tree scene was so cute and laura is  
insane. I never really thought about how her mom felt for doing all that stuff  
before, especially after frost did that whole "why did u kill me x-23? I loved  
u" thing at the mansion like it was laura's fault, so it was really cool_

Thanks! I thought so too. It was interesting for me too to find out what  
Dr. Kinney felt about all that...if she _had_ lived. I learn more about the characters  
by writing them.

**Laura K. Howlett: **

_Why do Laura's raspy/gurgling lines about "breakfast" make me think of a  
certain someone that wears red -and- yellow?_

_Little Bugs_

Is there something that matches that? I just totally pulled it off the top of my head...  
I'm weird like that with my boyfriend all the time. I do the weirdest voices and ask  
him if he's got lots of "PAYS AND CORN'S" (peas and corn) coz he's from "EEOWA" (Iowa).  
I get pretty weird, I know this. lol...

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Genitrix" 3 Issue: 4/6 )**

 **Chapter 44: Mi Casa es Su Casa** 

* * *

Two days after Christmas (which were filled with tree-obtaining adventures, decorating injuries and proper introductions to Laura's cousin and aunt), a  
ever-so-slightly happier and relaxed Julian and Laura departed for the airport. Although Laura was as surly and temperamental as ever, she did hide a few  
tears when she bid her mother good-bye; Julian took it as a good sign, until Laura mouthed off to him that she was 'crying with relief'.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait to get back to the mansion…after _that_ little sojourn to hell…" Laura fidgeted.

"You got your passport?" Julian asked her. She nodded. "Ready for the gates?" She nodded again. "Good. Just one more little detail. We're actually making a  
tiny detour on the way back."

Laura stopped in her tracks. "_What_?" she asked.

Julian rubbed his neck, suddenly losing courage in face of a possible public temper tantrum from Laura. Perhaps he should have told her earlier, in private…she might  
make it impossible for them to board a plane. Ever.

Period.

"My parents wanted to…"

Laura turned pale. "Keller…you…didn't…"

"Not yet!" he broke in. "Going to have to, though. I'm going to need money for this term…and fuck me if I'm not going to need more than I expected soon enough…"

Laura fumed. "Why couldn't you have been one of those hot, smart, rich _orphan_ boys?" she snapped. Julian frowned. "Laura, that's hardly fair—"

"Fair?! What's fair about this?!" She turned her back at him and stepped into the metal detector. The sirens went off like crazy.

"Ma'am, please remove…"

"I have a tongue piercing," Laura snarled at the mousy-looking man. "Look, we can either do this the hard way—I take it out, I put it back, my throat closes up, I spend  
my vacation in intensive care and I sue you and every person at this airport—or you give me a pat-down and let me through."

**…  
**

"That had to be a record," Julian said to her a while later. "You spoke to him for twenty seconds."

"Yeah, and I'm _not_ talking to _you_," Laura replied, looking out the window at the (to her) boring countryside as it passed.

"I should be so lucky," he grumbled, leaning his cheek on his hand.

**…  
**

Laura sat on her suitcase, still sulking. "Julian…it's been half an hour. Call a fucking cab. My butt hurts."

"That's because you've been sitting for three hours," he said calmly. "I am _not_ going home in a cab, and in a bit, you'll understand why. Course, then again, you might not."  
He grinned at her. "I am a billionaire, after all…country mouse."

"In that case, my mother should have charged you rent," she mumbled.

A little after this short interchange, a limo pulled up in the parking lot, with a sleekly outfitted chauffer. "What the—a limo!" Laura exclaimed. "Why did you get a _limo?_ This is  
ridiculous, we're nowhere near important enough for that. Send it back. Julian, I swear to god, I am not riding around in that thing…"

"It's only for the trip there," he said, patting her hand soothingly. "I'm kind of a big deal in these parts. I have my own car."

"What—why isn't it at the school?!" Laura hissed. "You tell me this _now_. Keller, I'd have boned you so much sooner if I had just known…you dumbass!"

"Oh really," he grinned as he pointed to the suitcases for the driver to pick up. "It's a nice one too, a BMW. I didn't bring it because it's a bit shiny and I was worried about  
blending in. Guess I blended in a little _too_ well."

"Yeah." Laura snorted. "You sure did…with the furniture."

Julian beckoned for her to get in.

**…**

"Oh man, I got to puke in a limo!" Laura said, all of a sudden in a talkative mood. "It's excited. I think that was the highlight of the ride, for me. Personally, I wouldn't  
pick a _white_ interior for a car…it just shows dirt so well. Just my opinion." She stuck out her tongue at Julian, who was rubbing his neck and still wondering how he was  
going to explain the large stain. It wasn't very impressive to introduce Laura as 'the girl who had an accident in the white limo'; he hoped he could beat the damage reports.

"No more juice for you, okay?" he asked as they walked up the gravel drive.

"Well, what can I say? I just felt so relaxed, it came right out," Laura said, her eyes darting around the area. "This place is huge! I'm tired already. Can you get a manservant  
to carry _me_ too? My butt still hurts."

"God…" he groaned. Laura was suddenly talking to him again… non-stop. "Ooh, did you train any of you staff to do tricks for treats? Can I can I have some cash so I can try?  
Do you have a booze cabinet?"

"No, no, and absolutely _not_," Julian sighed, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Behave for the next few hours and I'll take you anywhere you like tonight, okay?"

"Really?" Laura grinned; he knew right away this was a bad idea. "Okay. I have a hit list for around here…my first target is Lindsay Lohen…it's personal. Okay I lied—  
it's not—but it'll be damn fun—"

"—within reason," Julian added dryly.

"Killjoy," she said, making a rude hand motion. "A swimming pool! Is it heated? Can I get a bikini and show off my baby lump to your folks?"

"Laura." He stopped. "Please, don't even say that…please, don't even say the wrong thing till I get a little time with you alone, okay? I have it good  
here but…" he glanced towards the main building, looking a little uncomfortable.

"Ohh, I get it," Laura said. "Don't want them knowing you 'screwed' up big time? You really 'nailed' the lid shut on your coffin. Oh, haha! Sorry, totally knocked  
up there…I mean, slipped…"

She made a lip-zipping sign as Julian shot her a look that promised death.

**…**

"Hey, kid," Julian said to the boy sitting in front of the enormous flat-screen tv.

"Hey yourself."

Laura watched from the entryway to the room in interest, at Julian's first family interaction. She was like a scientist (perhaps a primate zoologist, like Jane Goodall);  
she felt she should have a notebook or something to record her observations on 'the behavior of rich inbred snobs'.

"Nice way to greet me. I've only been away for two years," Julian said, a little annoyed. His hands were shoved in his pockets.

The boy looked over the back of the couch and made a very sarcastic expression of surprise at his older brother. "Oh my god! It's the family progeny, and my role  
model! Did they make an action figure of you yet?"

Laura tilted her head, really observing. He looked somewhat like Julian; he had the same black hair, pale skin, nose (albeit he had freckles while the former did not);  
also, his eyes were gray, while his older brother's were bright blue.

"Are you a mutant?" she asked. She estimated him to be about 14 years old, and at a weight of about 54.4310844 kilograms (120 lbs). Non-mutate but still undergoing  
puberty. _Snff_. Teen Spirit and Vaseline.

"No, thank God. Who the hell are you?" the boy asked.

"Laura Kinney," she said, completing her analysis with a mental record of his vocal sounds and speech patterns.

"Do you go to his freak school?" the boy pried.

"Yes," Laura said, raising her eyebrow. "Interesting, I'm a freak and yet you're the one that was just whacking off to anime."

The boy turned bright red. Also interesting, they shared a family trait for facial blushes when embarrassed. Most people just flushed faintly. Julian, however, occasionally  
turned pink; and he gained a ruddy complexion when he'd been drinking very heavily.

"Was not," the boy said. "_Who_ the fuck are you, anyway? You're a nobody."

"Mmm." Laura sneered at him.

"Aww, come on…I think you got off on the wrong foot," Julian said, grinning. "This is Laura…she's the ice princess. Laura, this is my brother…James. He's still getting  
used to the concept that he's not better than everyone else, especially me. He's not a bad kid, when it gets down to it…can be annoying though."

"I can see that," Laura commented.

"Get that bitch out of the house," James demanded.

"_What_ did you call me?" Laura asked, her claws sliding out.

"Laura…" Julian put his hand out. "I know why he's mad." He sneered at his younger brother. "I used to target-practice on him. Five points for the chest, ten for the  
head, remember, Jimmy? It got _really_ interesting when I didn't have to use my hands anymore."

"I'll tell mom!" James yelled, sounding panicky. "You're not supposed to use your freaky brain thing on me!"

Julian's eyes glowed for a moment; the other boy ran from the room, swearing.

"Man, I love doing that," he laughed. "Kid's such a moron, but he can find our parents a lot faster than I can. Was he really whacking off before we walked in?"

"Yes," Laura said, studying the room. She shivered; there was no 'home' feel to it. Even the mansion felt more welcoming than this stark, unfriendly feeling. She'd  
been in a lot of bad places but they usually didn't give her the creeps.

Julian reached out and pulled her to him, resting his chin in her hair.

"It's not for long," he promised, somehow sensing her discomfort.

**…  
**

Apparently, Julian's parents were too busy to receive guests, and 'scheduled' him for an appointment for the next day. Laura raised her eyebrow at this but did not  
comment, feeling somehow bad for him when she saw his slightly disappointed expression.

She followed him from room to room, examining the expensive objects and noting that although everything was very large and grand, it was all modern style; no  
antiquities, that a well-established family might have. "Has your family been wealthy for long?" she asked finally, when they were standing at a glass door, gazing  
out across the estate.

"No," Julian said. "Since I was maybe six or seven. I remember there being a time when I couldn't have everything I wanted. That's long gone though."

He shifted his hands in his pockets.

"And so are your parents," Laura commented. "I fucking hate you, Keller. You suck! The more I get to know you…the more it seems like you have everything going  
right, and it's just not fair."

"The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence," he said. "It's not as great as it seems. I can't tell you how many times I forget which room I've left my  
keys in…and I find them a month later."

Laura raised her eyebrows.

"Speaking of keys, I found the ones to my car," he continued. "Wanna see it?"

She nodded; he offered her his hand, and led her outside, towards a central vestibule with a connected driveway. Inside were several expensive-looking cars;  
Julian stopped in front of a polished yellow BMW convertible and pulled out the keys. "You like?" he asked, spinning them on his finger and watching for her reaction.

"It's, um, very shiny," Laura said, leaning over the door and examining something. "Can I drive it?"

"Fuck no," he said, his hand snapping shut on the keys. "You'd scratch it."

"I'm sure they'd buy you a new one," she scoffed. She suddenly hopped into the driver's seat and braced her hands on the wheel, pretending to steer. "I've hot-wired  
these before," she said casually. "Say, were you ever in Seattle with this?"

"Yeah," Julian said, leaning on the hood and scowling. "Some jerk took it for a joy ride…hot wired it…it was all dinged up and there were cracks in the windshield…" he  
stared at Laura. "Son of a bitch, it was you, wasn't it?"

Laura grinned. "Did you like the little love letter I left you?"

Julian stiffened. Across the entire front of the car, Laura had spray-painted the words 'I am a bag of wet assholes', in red paint.

"It cost me five grand to replace the windshield and redo the finish," he said through gritted teeth. "What the fuck were you doing? Who goes through that much trouble to  
ruin a stranger's day?"

"Me and Megan were high and this asshole…_you_…ran a red light and almost hit me. We were the big old green Cherokee, remember? Then you yelled something rude and  
had the nerve to give me the finger. I thought you needed a lesson in traffic safety, namely what happens to a car when you don't obey road rules." She smiled at him  
belligerently.

"You were driving stoned?"

"That's beside the point," Laura said. "I think you learned a value lesson that day. See…I'm good for you."

"Christ," Julian said. "You're definitely not driving now. I should disown you and your little miscreant!"

"That was a _long_ time ago," Laura said, patting his hand. "It's all water under the bridge. What matters is here and now and that I'm waiting for you to give me the keys."

"Fuck that…slide over." He open the door and pushed Laura into the next seat non-too-gently. "I can't believe I'm letting that go. You destroyed my life for about a month…  
I was so upset…"

"Big of you," Laura commented gravely, as he turned the key. "About the only thing that is, Keller, aside from your ego."

"Not what you said last night," he retorted as he backed them out. "It was something like 'ow ow ow'. I forget the exact words."

"You had the wrong hole, dumbass," Laura said, leaning her elbow on the door, but she flushed slightly.  
**  
**

**…**

Julian turned out to be as reckless a driver as Laura had remembered, nearly hitting three other cars and very narrowly avoiding a fire hydrant. Laura enjoyed speed,  
but she was somewhat more gifted with the wheel, and a surprisingly sensible driver under normal circumstances, almost 'grandma' style.

"Keller! Slow the fuck down…this is not a bike! I'm fairly certain that when a vehicle has four wheels, you're supposed to use _all_ of them!" Laura yelled over the wind  
as he took them onto a highway and floored it. Laura's hair was ripped up into the wind; she pushed it out of her face angrily.

He grinned and eased off a little. "Relax, jee-ez. _You're_ telling _me_ to be more careful. I must be bad then." Julian reached over slightly and put his hand on  
Laura's knee affectionately.

"Ugh," she said, looking away; she let his hand remain though.

**…  
**

They spent the evening at places Julian (apparently) used to frequent; at the last one, an expensive-looking bar, they sat at a table and split a plate of potato skins  
(Laura had refused to order, saying she felt nauseous; when Julian's arrived, however, she began to dominate the plate quite aggressively).

"How you like it here?" he asked quietly.

"Not really my type of place, but it'll do," Laura replied, her mouth full.

"Well, look who it is—who has the nerve to show his face again."

They both looked up; a girl with bleached blond hair and neon red lipstick was staring down at Julian, a drink in one hand. She had very wide set grey eyes, and a  
high-pitched voice in between her chewing of her strawberry gum. In addition, she was dressed quite skimpily; a low-cut, bright red halter dress to match her lipstick,  
fishnet tights, and stiletto heels. About 20, or 21. Has reached puberty. Non-mutate. Weight approximately 63.5029318 kilograms (140 lbs). _Snff. _Laura recognized an  
expensive scent; Chanel No. 5. Her toes curled in dislike; she hated perfume.

"Noel," Julian said, sounding and looking surprised. "It's been a while."

"I'll say," the girl said. "That was so mean…what you did."

"Uh…I'm sorry?" he tried.

Noel splashed her drink in his face, her own twisted in anger. "You're such a loser!" she said. "I called you, and I messaged you a million times. You broke my heart!"

Laura looked down at the plate, a laugh threatening to break free. "Um, I need to, um, use the girl's room," she said, moving her leg out to stand up.

"And what's this? My replacement?" Noel asked scornfully, looking down her nose at Laura. "Looks pretty cheap to me. Where'd you get her from?"

Laura stood up. "Not the same place he got _you_, that's for sure," she said easily.

"Better call the breeding kennel she broke out of, I'm sure she's the most profitable bitch in the establishment."

Julian winced. 

_SLAP! _Noel's nails scored bloody streaks across Laura's face, complete with a diamond ring imprint on her cheek.

"Oh, so you want a claw fight, huh?" Laura asked, her fist tightening; Julian stood up. "Nonono. Don't fight over me, please, girls."

"Not fighting over _you_, buttwipe," Laura mouthed.

Noel was staring at her face, blinking. "You're a mutate!" she exclaimed suddenly, dropping her empty glass. It shattered on the ground, bringing activity to a halt as  
everyone stopped to stare.

"Let's go," Julian said quietly, taking Laura's elbow.

"Oh, so she doesn't _know_, does she?" Laura asked, grinning. "Noel, I should tell you, because I like you so much…you know what you were swapping spit cells and  
god-knows-what with those two years and a bit ago?"

"…" Noel took a step back. "Julian? Are you—is this true?"

"No! Let's go, Laura—"

"Ohmigod," Noel said. "I'll sue, I swear! Your father will be hearing from my daddy _tomorrow_! I'm so repulsed!" She dry-sobbed.

"Oh boy, can I call my daddy, too?" Laura asked gleefully. Julian had his arms around her and was trying to force her towards the door. "It sounds like you need a lesson in priorities.  
He's just the one to teach it to you!"

"My father is Joseph Gottlieb, the lawyer!" Noel said.

"Two guesses to who mine is," Laura said, holding her hand in front of Noel's face. "One…" A claw slid out. "Two! Figured it out yet?"

Julian suddenly picked Laura up and slung her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Put me down!" she shrieked, but he ignored her and carried her out to the parking lot with a grim  
expression. He set her down on the hood of his car.

"Laura Kinney, you are the end. You can't do this here. When they say they'll sue…they _will_ sue."

He touched her cheek, where she'd been hurt. "Understand me?"

"No!" Laura yelled. "Julian, what variety of asshole are you? You let her hit me! You should've kicked her were the sun don't shine…"

"That ring on her finger was from me," he said quietly. Laura stopped everything, her eyes wide. "What?! You're married?!"

"No. I was, uh, engaged to her." He rubbed his neck. "I didn't really care for her all that much, but my parents sure did…she's got quite a net worth, apparently. I got out of it by turning  
into a freak." Julian touched her chin. "When money gets involved…people's whims tend to matter more. Laura…I'm _trying_ to introduce you to my parents without any mishaps…"

Laura fell silent.

"You wouldn't be bringing me here if it wasn't for this, would you?" she asked finally, touching her stomach.

"Probably not, no," he admitted. "But it's more because I wouldn't want to put you under this kind of pressure than me not caring for you."

He looked at her carefully in the eyes. "We're going to need their money. More than they've been giving me. I have things…but I don't get that much of my own money without  
asking…and they'd ask questions if I suddenly laid down needs as big as we have coming. You understand?"

"Yes," Laura said in a small voice.

"Good. I just hope Noel was drunk enough to forget this happened."

He took her hand. "Come on, let's go back." He opened the car door for her.


	16. 3: Genitrix 5:6 introduced!

**A/N: **Hahaha, I know! The car scene was possibly one of my favoritist things to write. Although there are some pretty good ones coming up...

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Genitrix" 3 Issue: 5/6 )**

 **Chapter 45: introduced! **

* * *

"This is Laura Kinney," Julian said to the clean-cut older man sitting behind the desk. He had dark hair, gray eyes, and was  
wearing a business suit which obviously quite expensive, and glasses. He was a handsome man, vaguely like Julian and his  
brother—although his face was thinner, she could tell they were related—but he had a very stern, no-nonsense expression.

Laura tilted her head. Somewhere in his late 40's, about 81.6466266 kilograms (180 lbs.), non-mutate. _Snnff. _He smelled  
like paper and ink, with a hint of aftershave.

"A pleasure to meet you, I'm sure," the man said. He had a deep voice. Laura tilted her head again, wondering if he was military;  
Julian had addressed him as 'sir' several times, and his haircut suggested some sort of prior affiliation. Men usually didn't cut  
their hair that short unless they had grown used to a requirement for buzz cuts.

"Um, same," Laura said, not sure what else to say. She didn't really know how to respect anyone—she felt the urge to rebel just  
because he seemed so tight, but she knew it would hurt Julian…and affect the _thing's_ future, which was her greatest concern.

"Do you know Julian from school?" the man asked her directly.

Laura fidgeted her shoe nervously. "Yes," she answered. "He's, uh, in four of my classes." She realized she was starting her staring  
contest unconsciously, so she forced herself to lower her eyes and blink.

"It's good to meet some of his friends," Julian's father said. "El and me worry about him. We didn't want to send him so far away…but…"  
he cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the concept of mutants.

"She's more than that," Julian said very bluntly, staring at his father. This took Laura by surprise, and made her uncomfortable at the  
same time.

"I see," Mr. Keller said. The nameplate on the desk said William Keller and listed a line of degrees, but Laura didn't want to allow herself  
to call him William, even mentally—or else she'd say it aloud. She momentarily hated Julian for forcing her to do things that went against  
everything she stood for. There was a silence, in which the older man scrutinized Laura. She understood Julian's words of last night just  
a tiny bit more—he was afraid she wouldn't pass inspection.

After meeting Noel, she realized his parents had a different method of grading people than she did.

"Kinney…is that an Irish name?"

"I wouldn't know," Laura said. "It's my mother's."

"She's not married to your father?" Mr. Keller asked.

Laura blinked. "No…it's complicated." Laura decided not to tell him she didn't really _have_ a father, being a clone and all.

"And who is _he_?"

Julian cleared his throat. "Mr. Logan, at the institute. You know…Wolverine. She went to school to spend time with him."

Laura saw a tiny hint of recognition in Mr. Keller's eyes; obviously the name meant something to him.

"Oh," he said. "If you're going to the school, you must have…powers…then?"

Laura nodded. "I have an accelerated healing factor and bone claws, coated in adamantium."

"I see." He looked at his son. "Well, Julian, I understand there was something you wished to speak with me about?"

Julian nodded. "Laura…you mind waiting in my room? I'll catch up later."

Laura left without question, letting the door swing shut behind her. She walked down the hall so they would know she was gone, but stopped around  
the corner and slid down the wall. She wasn't missing _this_. It was as clear as day, with her hearing.

A chair creaking; Julian sitting down. "Dad…I need more money for next term."

"You spent everything?" his father asked coolly. "I hope it's not on the girl…she might just be after your money, you know. Your mother and I warned  
you about this…don't pick below your status. You should know better."

"Laura doesn't give two shits about money," Julian said defiantly, confidently— more easily than when she'd been sitting in the room. She guessed  
he didn't realize she could still hear him.

"Don't be so sure. She seems like a smart girl…and the heart is a fool." His father sighed and leaned on his elbow; Laura heard the small thump of  
the bone contacting the desk surface. "What do you need?"

Julian fingered a piece of paper in his fingers.

"Dad…there's something else I need to tell you, first."

"Go on."

"I contacted you and mom, about three months ago…or the institute did, about my experience at the facility." Julian sounded a bit nervous now,  
but determined.

"Did you? Oh yes...now I recall something…we were in negotiations with Johnson & Johnson that week so I wasn't really paying attention to my  
inbox. I'm sorry, Julian, I should have called."

"It's okay, dad," Julian said.

Laura drew her eyebrows together. These people scared her…her family might be fucked the hell up, but at least their priorities were right.

"Anyways, Laura is the other student that was captured with me," Julian continued.

"I see," his father said.

"An experiment was done." Julian was trying hard to keep his voice steady, and doing an admirable job. "To keep it simple, Laura is…pregnant.  
And it's mine." 

_Creak. _His father leaned back in the chair.

"I decided to tell you the truth so you wouldn't think less of her," Julian said, his voice lower. "It wasn't something she tried to have happen or anything.  
Laura was basically raped by this program…and I kind of feel responsible for taking care of the result."

His father cleared his throat. "Julian, did you ask her to abort it?"

Laura swallowed and closed her eyes. It, in such a cold, detached way. Not the joking voice she used about her offspring. Like it was some sort of  
cancerous tumor she was supposed to remove.

"It's not that simple," Julian said. "She has a healing factor. It will grow right back. More importantly, she wants it."

Silence.

"Of course she wants it. Did you influence her to at least try?"

To force her, to reverse rape her, in other words. More violation.

"No, I did not." Julian sounded firm. "If she wants it, I'm not forcing her to do anything. And that's not the reason I'm with her, sir." 

_Creak_, he had adjusted his position in the chair. "I love her, and I'm planning to marry her someday in the future, if she says yes."

Laura's eyes shot open as wide as his father's must have. This was all news to her. _Oh god, oh god, _she thought in panic. She briefly considered  
running through the window opposite her, screaming something about 'commitment', but guessed that would not impress Mr. Keller at all.

"Julian…no. That would not be wise. This is not your responsibility." His father's fingertips met with a soft thud. "You will, one day, take over my company,  
and inherit this, all of this. And you must pick a partner that will support your endeavors, without distracting you; and one that will bring her own assets to  
the household—and connections. Laura is pretty and smart—but I am positive she has motives, and she has no connections whatsoever. If she will not  
abort it…then I'm afraid there's nothing you can do but break your associations with her. I will not help you to pursue this course of action." 

_Thump._ Julian's hands hitting the table. _Creak_, he leaned out of his chair. "I'm not abandoning her!" he said, his voice rising.

"I will not help you," his father said icily.

"Sir—"

"Julian, enough. I've stated my case quite clearly. You will not be involved. However, I do have some other associations that I would like you to make  
acquaintance with; my business partner has a dau—"

There was a slight _buzzing_ noise that Laura recognized, followed by an enormous_ CRASH! _followed by several smaller crashes.She winced as the wall  
shook. It sounded large; roughly the size of the desk. She guess that Julian had just ripped the entire desk aside and hurled it at the wall; and several  
bookcases had fallen over.

"I'M NOT SOME LITTLE PRINCESS YOU CAN MARRY OFF TO MAKE ALLIANCES!" Julian shouted in his father's face. He was surprisingly loud when  
angry; Laura was impressed. He'd far outdone her tantrums, and this was just the first minute.

"Julian—"

"I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU AND MOM! YOU'RE NEVER LISTENING TO WHAT I ACTUALLY WANT! MONEY DOESN'T FIX EVERYTHING, WHY  
CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!"

"Julian—"

A big _crash _as the chandelier uprooted itself from the ceiling, followed by the _tinkle _of breaking glass.

"GODDAMNIT, I AM NOT TURNING MY BACK ON LAURA AND NOTHING YOU SAY WILL CHANGE THAT, UNDERSTAND? JUST LIKE I DIDN'T  
BEFORE! DID YOU LEARN NOTHING FROM RACHEL?!"

"You are dismissed," his father said calmly. "Leave, now."

Silence. 

_TINKLE._

The enormous expanse of the glass window in the office shattered. The door flew open and hung on its hinges; Julian stomped out, his cheeks  
flushed. He looked around the hallway, his eye whites flashing; of course, he saw Laura. "Hi," she said, with a timid smile. He was breathing hard.

He extended his hand to her; for a moment, Laura thought he was going to snap her neck for eavesdropping (although she would've  
heard the commotion from his room). Then she realized he was simply offering her help to stand. She took it and pulled herself up,  
thinking idly that she felt a bit heavier than before. She wondered if the argument had been healthy for the baby.

Julian didn't speak the whole way back; when they reached his room, he entered the bathroom and closed the door firmly. Laura sat at the window seat,  
plugging her ears and trying not to listen; she was afraid he would cry, and she wouldn't be able to look at him in the eye after that. Thankfully he didn't,  
but a long while passed with just silence. And with silence came the urge to pee. At first she ignored it, but it grew quite steadily. Of course there were  
other washrooms, but Laura felt awkward wandering the house and explaining to the staff who she was (there seemed to be a different person every day).

Finally she couldn't tolerate it anymore, and knocked on the door. "Julian?" she called. "I hate to interrupt the Sulkathon, but your little friend decided I have to  
pee…and I thought you might like this carpet the way it is. Although the right corner _could _use a spot…"

The door opened. He looked far calmer. "I'm sorry. Go ahead." He brushed past Laura; once she'd finished and come out, she found him sitting on the edge of  
the bed, his hands folded in his lap. "I have no idea what's going to happen," he said. "I don't think that went so well."

"You sure we're not related?" she asked him, grinning. "Damn, Keller. I've never caused _that_ much damage to one room. I don't think Logan, has, either. Well,  
maybe once, or twice…"

"I got angry," Julian said, annoyed. "When I get that mad, I lose control very easily. Do you know how hard it is to not cause damage when you're angry and just  
thinking about things can make them happen?"

"Probably," Laura admitted. She couldn't count the number of times she'd considered killing people that aggravated her. Including Keller himself, more than a few  
times.

"That's why they sent me away. I…I got very angry, once, and I destroyed half of the house. It cost dad millions to repair it." He shifted. "They told me, three  
strikes and I'm out. That was the first one."

"Expensive," Laura said, not knowing what else to say.

He raised his eyebrows. "They can afford it," he said grimly.

"I'm sorry, I don't like your father," Laura blurted.

Julian grinned. "What? Oh—him? He's nothing. It's mom that's the driving force in this whole tangle. Just wait for it…you meet _her _tomorrow. I don't even know  
how dad managed to have three kids with her…I can't imagine her allowing it, ever." He cleared his throat. "Um…I think you might have heard something else,  
too, and I'm sorry, I wasn't going to tell you yet."

Laura sat on the bed, strained. "Keller…just four days ago, you were telling me we weren't 'there yet'. It's a bit much to go from that to…you know."

He looked down. "Laura…it's hard to explain. I've known for a quite a while now…it's not like you slept with me and rocked my world so much that I fell head over  
heels, or anything." Laura snorted softly. "I planned it, all of it, since I realized. I'm working my way up to it, if that makes sense." He looked at her, a little shyly.

"No, we're not there yet…but I think we will be."

"Maybe," Laura said, raising her eyebrow. "Normally I'd say 'I'd rather be executed…no fucking way, crawl back into whatever hellhole you originated from', yet, here  
we are, in the hellhole, and I haven't run through the window to get away yet." She touched his cheek, tracing it with her thumb till he smiled a bit and a dimple appeared,  
right in the spot she had predicted. "Although I almost did, when I heard you say that."

Julian grinned. "I…I love you," he said, a little uncertainly.

"Awkward! Um, thank you?" she replied after a few moments.

"Uh huh," he said, leaning into her hand. "Just…thought you should know. Since you kind of knew anyways, you little sneak."

"It was the bay-bay," she said conveniently. "Well, there you go. I can say, at least, for sure, that _it_ loves you."

"Not the same," he said into her palm, kissing it lightly. "Get changed, we're going out…somewhere Noel can't find us. Somewhere _nice._ I'm taking you for dinner."


	17. 3: Genitrix 6:6 disowned!

**A/N:**

**Miss Nunya:**

_I'm not surprised Mrs. Keller the one calling the shots. Women are usually in charge, whether men like to admit it or not.  
_True, that. Hehe!  
_ Quick question: What exactly did Logan's name mean to Mr. Keller? _  
Hmm, that's coming later.

_ while i'm sure several words can be used to describe the end of this chapter the main one that comes to mind is 'aw!'__  
If Marvel would just let them get together they'd be rich and i'd be happy. Broke, but happy. _Me too...oh well let's hope for  
X-Force #13!! Maybe we should get together, pool funds and send them a bribe to make it happen XcD

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Genitrix" 3 Issue: 6/6 )**

 **Chapter 46: disowned! **

* * *

It was to be lunch, at some horrible fancy club-thing. Julian took her to some store, and a small discussion with the ladies on staff.  
They looked worried and nervous afterwards. Laura thought it was ridiculous, but played along, allowing them to whisk outfits on  
and off her until they timidly, reluctantly decided she was complete, like something out of the princess diaries (which Laura had  
watched when she was eleven years old, unfortunately). Julian wouldn't let her near the service desk when he paid, and she  
couldn't catch the price being said aloud. She felt stiff and too polished.

He took her to another place for finishing touches; they redid her make-up and her nails—and her hair. She was a Barbie doll.  
Utterly not Laura. Finally he said she looked the part (which was odd, considering _he_ was just wearing his nirvana t-shirt, his  
jeans, and his X jacket), and drove them in silence to the 'designated meeting area', as Laura thought of it.

"Laura…be really, really careful. Even if dad didn't like you…if mom does…then you'll be in, no problem…if she doesn't, well…" he  
touched her knee and smoothed down her skirt. Laura felt even more ridiculous.

"Let's get this the fuck over with," she said stiffly. She couldn't move her features too much; her makeup was foreign to her face.

He locked the car, hesitated, then followed her towards the main building's entrance, playing with the keys in his pocket. Laura  
blinked as they reached the door. There was a bouncer. Exactly what kind of place was this?

"Hi, Julian," the man said, smiling cordially. "Here to see your mom?"

"Yep," he answered.

"She with you?" the bouncer asked, looking Laura over. She eyed him warily, not sure what to think. Was he creeping her?

"Yep," Julian said again. "If you don't mind, we're in a hurry. Nice to see you."

The bouncer tipped an invisible hat and opened the door for them; Julian pushed Laura inside before she could protest in front of the man.

"What the—he was being nice!" she hissed. "Why were you so rude to him?"

"You have to be," Julian murmured, taking her hand. "I'll explain later. Just be quiet."

He led her through a few rooms, to an expensive-looking dining room. It was mostly empty; Laura's eyes searched the expanse for someone  
who could be his mother, but failed to find one. He lead her to a table with a younger looking woman. Laura's jaw almost dropped; she couldn't  
be more than 30 years old, from her appearance. She had delicate red curls that seemed to glow, and now Laura saw were most of Julian's  
features came from. She had the same intense blue eyes and youthful face with high cheekbones; even his nose was like hers. Laura just _knew_  
this woman was a mutant of some sort—perhaps it was the bloodhound training. She neglected to notice the fact that she didn't complete her  
usual once-over.

"Julian," the woman said in a voice that sounded like soft bells. She was smiling and holding out her arms. He moved to her chair, embraced  
her for a moment, then sat down beside her, indicating for Laura to sit in the next chair. His mother's gaze turned to Laura; she felt frozen,  
rooted to the spot as she was examined. The woman was so confident, more so than Emma Frost and Jean Grey-Summers put together.

She had to be a telepath or something.

"And who is this?" Mrs. Keller asked softly, her dangling earrings swinging. Laura opened her mouth, but for once, no words would come.

"This is Laura. Laura Kinney." Julian shifted. "I don't know what dad told you."

"I haven't spoken with your father for a few days." Mrs. Keller said, sipping the tea at her elbow. Laura knew right away this was a lie; she'd  
learned everything, of course, almost as soon as it happened. She could smell the lie pheromones, even if Mrs. Keller's voice and steady hands  
betrayed nothing.

"Are you from Julian's school?" she asked Laura.

"I—" Laura's voice came out as a squeak. "Yes. Yes, I am."

Mrs. Keller smiled again. "It's so nice to see that he has friends," she said, ignoring Julian's presence entirely. "I'm sure his father mentioned that  
we worry about that. He can be…overbearing, at times."

"Mom," Julian said, flushing angrily. "Laura isn't—"

"She's not your friend?" she asked, her eyebrows arching. "Why would you bring somebody who is not your friend?"

Julian swallowed. "Uh, she's my…"

"Oh," Mrs. Keller said, although Laura was sure she was not surprised at all. She sipped her tea. "Do forgive me, Laura dear, but I wanted to tell my  
son that I saw an old friend of his the other day. Surely you remember Noel?" She continued to smile, but Laura saw a venomous gleam in her eye.

She wanted to jump back, it was like watching a cobra prepare to strike.

"Yes," Julian said stiffly.

"She passed on her regards," Mrs. Keller said. She reached out with her immaculate fingers, picked a sugar cube from a pile on the table, then  
dropped it into her teacup and began to stir it daintily with a teaspoon.

_Clink. Clink. Clink._

Julian looked at Laura. The game was up.

"Oh, that's nice," he said. "Um, if you see her again, do the same, I guess."

"I will," his mother said. She smiled. "Shall I inform her that, since we have recovered from the whole little household upset, we would be delighted  
to have her over again?" She used the word _we_, but it clearly was meant just for Julian.

"No," Julian said stiffly. "I'm going back to school. With Laura." He leaned forwards. "I might as well tell you…since you don't like her, already, and  
you're rubbing it in her face…we're starting a family. So Noel can go screw herself."

"I see," Mrs. Keller said. She sipped her tea calmly. "I'm disappointed, Julian. Noel was such a nice girl. You have been nothing but one disappointment  
after another to me…and your father…since Rachel."

Julian stood up. "That's it. We're leaving, Laura."

"We are?" Laura asked in confusion.

"Remember, Julian," his mother said calmly. "We agreed, three chances. This is your third."

Julian's eyes widened. "You can't mean…I'm your son. Your firstborn, now."

Mrs. Keller sipped her tea and did not answer, clearly having dismissed him.

He took Laura's hand, and she could feel the sweat in his palm. Laura followed him to the door, then patted her dress. "Go on, I forgot something," she said.

He looked skeptical but exited.

**… **

Laura approached Mrs. Keller, who was still sitting, calmly drinking her tea. She took a deep breath, then put her hands on the table.

"You people are blind. You're almost eviler than the people who made me. You know what—you're the _same_. I bet you fund little projects  
like this," Laura hissed, jamming her fist in front of his mother's face and letting her claws slide out. The pleasant sunlight of the country  
club glinted along the metal. "Your own son. You make me sick. You have no idea what you tamper with. He tried so hard…"

"Did he tell you," Mrs. Keller said calmly, still holding her teacup, "that he killed his sister?"

Laura let her claws slip in. She didn't answer, only turned over the table, and left Mrs. Keller sitting in her chair, still  
daintily sipping from her teacup.

**… **

"What did you say to her, Laura?" Julian asked, back in his room. "You shouldn't have gone back. If she hates you…"

Laura sat at the window seat. "They're disowning you," she said calmly.

Julian paled. "What? Did she say that? LAURA—"

"No," Laura said, closing her eyes. "Right now. I can hear them. Your father is speaking with your lawyer, in the  
wing across. They are taking your name out of their will. All the property will now go to your brother, and they  
are severing their legal bonds with you."

He sat down on the bed. "Laura…" he rubbed his face with his hands. "Oh my god. Oh, god. W-what am I going to do?"

"Continue living," Laura said. "That's what I've always done."

She got up and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Julian…this isn't worth it, anyway. If I know anything about you at all…  
you'd hate running this. You want to be an X-man." She touched his chin with her other hand.

He looked up, his eyes wet. "Oh, gross, Keller! Don't get your boy-juices on me. You are to vomit." Laura wiped her fingers  
on his t-shirt. He smiled, despite himself; then suddenly he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face against  
her stomach. "I think you're all the family I'm going to have, now," he mumbled.

Laura tilted her head. "Great. I thought I told you I _hated _you. How did you end up worming your way in anyways?"

"Sorry," he said.

"Parasite," Laura said affectionately, ruffling his hair.

**… **

The next morning, they took off in Julian's car, probably the last really nice thing he was ever going to own. Julian was blissfully  
unaware that Laura had—without telling him—snuck out that night to leave his parents some thoughtful parting gifts; she'd added  
clear acid to the pool, worked thumbtacks into many chairs around the household (and various areas of carpet); she had then let  
herself into the garage. Each car now proudly displayed a varied message stating her opinion of the couple, as well as multiple claw  
marks right through the hoods and down the sides. She'd wound it up by putting something extremely smelly in the ventilation shaft,  
then raided his father's liquor collection and shoved the bottles under her jacket.

**...**

"I thought we'd have a little fun," Laura grinned, pulling out an old-looking bottle from the bag.

They were again sitting on the roof at the school, Julian's car now secured in the garage (following the unplanned road trip), and their  
luggage in his room.

Julian's eyes widened. "Oh my god…that's my dad's," he gasped. "It's two hundred years old, Laura. He'll send the police after you."

Laura popped a claw, and before he could stop her, she jammed it in the cork and pulled it out. The resulting explosion showered them both  
with a tsunami-like wave of alcohol. She giggled. "That was awesome!"

"It's worth a hundred and sixty thousand dollars, Laura," he said flatly.

She blinked and looked at the label. "I bet it tastes as good as it feels to wear, then," she said enthusiastically. "To your disownment! I wish it  
was me!" She tilted back her head and took a large swig, then promptly began to choke. "Holy mother of God!"

Julian smiled, despite himself. "You're not supposed to be drinking, Miss Preggos," he said. "Hand it over."

Laura wiped her mouth with one hand and passed it over with the other, quite roughly, so it splashed all over the roof tiles.

"Cup of wine is good for _any_ preggo. Besides, I'm a little, you know, special."

"Oh, right," he said, carefully drinking some himself. It was incredibly strong; his eyes watered and he choked too.

**… **

Needless to say, 200 year old wine was incredibly potent, and not surprisingly strong enough to get them both more than a little drunk.  
"Why do we always…come up to the roof for this?!" Laura asked, as Julian barely prevented her from falling off with an arm around her waist.

"Oh my god…I was totally wrong…I think it's drunk!" She giggled slowly.

"Huh…should…should have it checked out…you should…I know a guy," Julian said, drawing his eyebrows together. "I know…people. You know.  
Know what I mean? I think I do…wait…why are we talking?"

"Exactly," Laura said, pointing to the air with her finger and waving it around. "I wish _I_ had the big-brain thing, that'd be…cool. D'you think it will?  
The kid-thing, I mean? Fuck…that'd be so fucking awesome…"

"Huh? Fucking? Where?" Julian propped himself up on his elbows.

"Your face!" Laura exclaimed. "Hahaha. Oh, look…booze!"

"Oh my god…" Julian peered at the bag. It was full of the entire contents of his father's liquor cabinet. Even as drunk as he was, he was aware that his  
father would come after him for vengeance unequaled, and he wasn't sure if Xavier was rich enough to protect him. "We could…sell it, you know,"  
he said thoughtfully.

"Fuck that," Laura said. "Months of…enjoyment…here. Or a night. I wonder if I could…uh…drink it all…"

"First…no," Julian said, waving his finger in the air. He accidentally picked a bottle out of the bag with his mind and flung it over the roof. "Oooops.  
I better watch it...'n-e-ways, we can't…keep it."

Laura grinned. "Keller…you're a genius, a true diamond in the rough." She reached into the bag, and brandished a bottle of whiskey.

"Huh," she said, trying to read the label. "Teh…th…the Macamillikan…phone… and rape Collection…119226...6 million years Old'." She frowned.

"Learn to read…dumbass," Julian said, wrenching the bottle from her grasp. "It's…fuck. I know it's worth…like…more than I am, at the moment…  
hahaha WOAH." He tilted sideways.

Laura seized the bottle from his grip. "Keller! It's the original sin to waste booze!" she yelped, stroking it. "Unless it's…done right. With a five-star salute…"

She cracked the top and took a swig. It burned going down. "Ahhhk," she choked, then dug in her pocket and fished out a lighter.

Julian's eyes widened. "Laur…a…" he said, then gave up, amused by the idea.

She held the lighter to the bottle with wavering hands, then stood up, her thumb flicking it on.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" she screamed, hurling it as far as she could towards the driveway.

Julian scrambled to the edge to watch. "That was…awesome," he said, joining Laura in stupefied laughter.

"Gimme another," she said. "Nonono. My turn! Ten points for Frost's car," Julian giggled.

"Here…light this fer me…"

**… **

"You are both suspended, for two weeks," Emma said coldly, her eyes fixed on the two drunken students wobbling on the high backed wooden chairs.

"What would _ever_ possess you two to do something as stupid as getting drunk at a high altitude?"

"We're super heroes!" Julian giggled, as Laura pointed at him. She misjudged the distance, hitting him in the face with her finger, and he fell sideways off his chair.

Scott Summers folded his arms. "Logan…I'm leaving Laura for you to deal with."

"Who the hell drinks a bottle of extremely aged wine while pregnant?!" Logan asked desperately. "Fucking kids! If she gave that thing some kind of syndrome..."

Emma pursed her lips. "Logan has brought up an excellent point, Laura. Did you not consider your child in this equation?"

Laura squinted at her. "Hey…Keller wanted to know…when you turn diamond…can you see the silicon implants?"

Julian, still lying on the floor, found this hilarious. "LAURA!" he cackled.

"Please…take them away," Emma said, covering her face with her hand. "Before I am tempted to do something against the School Code."


	18. 4: Pleasantries 1:3 no regrets

**A/N: **And now for something completely different...tah dahhh! I thought it'd be fun to do this.  
**Note: **Blah, this thing blurbs out e-mail addresses and the 'at' symbol. The _lkinney69... _is supposed to be Laura's hotmail. Just mentally add "at hotmail . com"

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Pleasantries" 4 Issue: 1/3 )**

 **Chapter 47: no regrets **

* * *

"Oh my fuck." Julian and Laura sat on the edge of the bathtub, taking turns with the toilet, or the 'puke tank' as they had come to refer to it.  
They had succumbed to an extreme case of food poisoning (border lining botulism) that they had contracted from the aged fluids. Any food  
consumed by either was promptly and violently expelled. Not to mention their migraines. They were locked in his room without painkillers or  
healers after an initial medical exam and treatment.

"I've never had a hangover last for two days," he groaned, holding his head.

Laura was only slightly better off.

For some reason, her healing factor had slowed to a crawl (perhaps overload); all of it had gone into protecting the baby; Dr. McCoy had been  
very worried, and had kept them under observation for a while. Among other treatments. "Well…it makes sense…a two to two ratio," Laura  
mumbled. Hank had estimated, after inspection of the remnants of the bottle, that the wine had through some sort of mutation been at a volume  
of almost 150 alcohol. At the peak, Elixir had had to briefly perform a localized healing on Julian, when his liver cells quit, then his digestive system  
shut down, and he went into a state of shock. Emma had prevented him from healing anything else.

They'd been drunk for two days.

"Did she say the detention starts _after_ we start feeling better?"

Laura hung her head. "No, it's going on now. I think she said she's lined up rehab for us, though."

Julian let out a dry sob of despair. "Kill me, please! I don't want to live with this agony anymore!"

"There, there," Laura said, stroking his back. "Don't be a pussy, Keller."

"You don't understand. I feel headaches differently than you do." He rubbed his forehead. "I want to sleep, so bad, but I can't."

"Yeah…well…I'm pregnant," Laura shot back. "I automatically win any arguments about feeling lousy, right?"

Julian didn't answer, scrambling to the toilet with a slightly green hue that was distinctly not power related.  
**  
… **

"Do you think they forgot about us?" Laura asked, looking out the window. If they wanted to leave, it would only be too easy; however, it would  
also mean certain expulsion from the school. Julian had refused this idea, even though Laura was all for going back to her home; and she found  
herself not wanting to leave him behind. So she had stayed, resting her headache on his shoulder and marveling at the fact that the ache had  
lulled to the point of allowing her to hear her own thoughts.

"No," Julian grumbled, flipping through a folder. A pile of homework had appeared at his desk that morning, although no one had come to the door.

"Knock knock," Logan said, opening the door. "Oh, hey, just the girl I was looking for."

He pointed at Laura. "You—you're not staying in _his_ room, missy. Rest of your detention will be alone in your own habitat—and you'll be in the  
Danger Room every day, for a full work shift."

Laura's eyes widened. "Fuck that!" she said, running for the window.

"Keller," Logan said.

Leaning backwards in his chair, Julian reached out and grabbed the air; Laura shrieked as she was caught up in a green cloud and turned upside down.  
"Yes, take her away…she's a bad influence," he said grimly. "I don't think I've done homework for about a month and a half, thanks to her."

"Traitor!" Laura hissed.

Logan grinned. "You'll have _plenty _of time to assign the blame later," he said. "Oh, and Keller.." he paused at the door, holding Laura by the wrist.

Julian looked up warily.

"Nice shot on Frost's car. She now has a mighty fine bottle of the world's most expensive whiskey fused to the hood ornament." He cleared his throat.  
"You didn't hear it from me, but that's twenty points right there."

"Um, thanks," Julian said sheepishly, grinning back.

**…  
**  
He looked up from his Biology book, needing a rest, and happened to look at his computer screen. He'd turned it on a while ago, but had been involved in  
preparing for his makeup exam. An orange box was flashing at the bottom. Actually, it was solid orange, indicating it had been there for a while. An MSN  
window. He pulled it up and blinked; it was Laura. _  
_

_lkinney69...says (12:01 PM)_:  
hi

_lkinney69...__says (12:11 PM)_:  
hello

_lkinney69...__says (12:23 PM)_:  
u there? keller!

_lkinney69...__says (12:24 PM)_:  
keller!

_lkinney69...__says (12:25 PM)_:  
keller!

_lkinney69...__says (12:26 PM)_:  
...

_lkinney69...__says (12:31 PM)_:  
keller! add me!

Upon accepting her invitation, the name changed.

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:04 PM)  
_took u long enough…

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:04 PM)__  
_how did u get my address?

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:06 PM)  
_u gave it to me, dumbass

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:06 PM)  
_o

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:08 PM)  
_well, i guess taht would make sense wouldnt it

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:07 PM)  
_u suck at typing…doing it two-fingered?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:10 PM)  
_yep, dont talk on here too much

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:10 PM)  
_hahahaha no wonder ur lab reports suck so bad…it must be awrful

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:11 PM)  
_goodbye

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:11 PM)  
_nono don't go i'm so bored i will start biting my arm off for something to do! _  
**  
heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:12 PM)  
_don't bleed on the carpet, were in enough trouble already

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:12 PM)  
_fucking fire-bombs

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:13 PM)  
_miss me yet?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:14PM)  
_atcually, i was enjouying the peace and quiet

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:12 PM)  
_its such a nice change, i can hear myself think

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:13 PM)  
_oh wow, is the silence scary?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:13 PM)  
_goodbye

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:13 PM)  
_nonono keller u touchy bitch

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:14 PM)  
_i should block u i should

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:14 PM)  
_yeah right. like my name?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:15 PM)  
_uh huh. u r a milf…been there, done that.

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:15 PM)  
_haha, literally. i think we should just pretend it was an accident, i don't feel like taking 5 mins to explain every time about  
the whole lab thing, do u? _  
**  
heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:16 PM)  
_not really. i wasnt planning on tellin many people tho

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:16 PM)  
_……

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:16 PM)  
_ouch keller, very ouch

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:17 PM)  
_im sorry?

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:17 PM)  
_mhmm

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:17 PM)  
_i'll just bet u r!

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:17 PM)  
_i'll make u sorry

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:18 PM)  
_oh god, im scared

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:18 PM)  
_u should be!

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:18 PM)  
_what's with the name?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:19 PM)  
_its from joss whedon's serenity. its pretty awesome, u should check it out

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:19 PM)  
_ohhhh snuggle on the couch

_ **69** __**xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:20 PM)  
_fuck that

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:20 PM)  
_that'd be like admitting i like u or something

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:20 PM)  
_mhmm coz ur only baking my little bun in the oven

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:21 PM)  
_it was an accident and i already told god i'm sorry

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:21 PM)  
_it took a lot for him to forgive me…i had to get over it myself first

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:21 PM)  
_ha…ha…ha…

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:21 PM)  
_sadistic bitch

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:22 PM)  
_r u religious? didnt strike me as the type 

_**69** **xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:22 PM)  
_o god no

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:23 PM)  
_although i do worship the alcohol god regularly

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:24 PM)  
_hah. so last week was like a religious holiday fer u then?

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:24 PM)  
_yep. how u like my god?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:25 PM)  
_he's mean

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:25 PM)  
_bsides, i was catholic as a kid…i think 1 god is enough fer most people, dont u?

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:26 PM)  
_u? catholic? HAHAHAHA if u stepped into a church u would spontaneously combust

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:26 PM)  
_not anymore, and yes, i prolly would

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:27 PM)  
_ive been around the track a few times

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:28 PM)  
_not as much as me

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:28 PM)  
_prolly not, no

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:28 PM)  
_haha o noes! there goes ur dream wedding in the chapel

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:28 PM)  
_u lurrrrves me, u wants to marrrrry me

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:29 PM)  
_goodbye

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:29 PM)  
_nonono

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:29 PM)  
_i'z sorry, i shouldn't joke about ur delicate feelings…can i has forgiveness plz?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:30 PM)  
_thats a first…laura apologizing. o look, i have written proof too! huh

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:30 PM)  
_it also has what i said

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:31 PM)  
_well maybe im not afraid of letting people know that

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:31 PM)  
_…………………………………

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:31 PM)  
_i just threw up in my mouth a little

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:32 PM)  
_mmm, hawt

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:32 PM)  
_save me some

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:32 PM)  
_i will __

**69 ****_xX LaURa Xx 69 _**_milf!! __(13:35 PM)  
_/crickets

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:36 PM)  
_must have escaped from anole's room

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:36 PM)  
_hahahaha does he really eat crickets?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:37 PM)  
_i wouldnt know…don't keep up much with people on other squads, cept foley and sof

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:39 PM)  
_yes…sof

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:40 PM)  
_were friends, laura….deal with it

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:40 PM)  
_didn't say nothing _  
__  
**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:40 PM)  
_would u still hang out with me if i was on a diff squad? say new mutants?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:41 PM)  
_would u still be preggos?

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:41 PM)  
_uh huh

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:42 PM)  
_id hate u that much more but yeah prolly

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:42 PM)  
_oh wow, ur so deep

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:42 PM)  
_shhh u be quiet

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:42 PM)  
_r u gonna be more involved in the squad when were out of detention?

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:42 PM)  
_will u wear a banana hammock for my amusement?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:43 PM)  
_i was bein serious :(

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:43 PM)  
_so was i

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:44 PM)  
_laura…

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:45 PM)  
_keller, i dont care about the squads…its stupid. its breeding separation in the school…one day, if some of u r lucky, u'll be x-men  
and go on all their glorious adventures…and u'll all hate each other, coz u were on separate squads. how's that for teamwork?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:45 PM)  
_…..

_**heLLion **__you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:47 PM)  
_laura…if and when that day comes, im not that big a jerk that i wont work with whatever team is around. this whole separate-squad  
thing is to encourage us to do our best…its gonna take our best to stay alive.

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:47 PM)  
_wow, that _was_ deep

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:48 PM)  
_i have my moments

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:49 PM)  
_will u plz at least consider being more involved? for me? i dont mind u bein funny…its u standing around and sabotaging shit that  
makes it hard…ud be so fucking good at it if u applied urself

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:49 PM)  
_uhh thanks, i think

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:50 PM)  
_dont mention it. keepin team morale up and all, u know

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:51 PM)  
_don't you find it awkward, bossing me around? i personally keep picturing u drooling on ur pillow when ur giving me orders.

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:52 PM)  
_oh wow. actually, i kinda like bossing u around, its hawt. and ur uniform leaves nothing to the imagination.

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:52 PM)  
_i'm never wearing that thing again

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:53 PM)  
_plz, i cant believe im saying this, but dont do that. i wouldnt be able to concentrate if u werent wearing anything.

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:53 PM)  
_hahahaha u wish. pervo.

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:54 PM)  
_mhmm. ur the one who wants a banana hammock

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:54 PM)  
_so other people can see how tiny u r

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:54 PM)  
_o wait, ud stuff it with toilet paper, wouldn't u?

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:56 PM)  
_thats a lie an u kno it

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:56 PM)  
_im willing to testify in court

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:58 PM)  
_uh-huh…first, i cant imagine a case that would prosecute me fer size (although they should, it should be a legal to be as well  
equipped as i am), and secondly, u'd be put on death row for the lie.

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:58 PM)  
_u take narcissism to a whole new level

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(13:59 PM)  
_i do what a man can _  
**  
69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(13:59 PM)  
_ur not a man, ur a boy…a very little boy

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(14:00 PM)  
_uh huh. not what u said the other night

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(14:00 PM)  
_wasn't i puking last night? i think my exact words were 'oh god, i think its throwing up in my uterus!'

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(14:01 PM)  
_….

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(14:01 PM)  
_talking about ur…bebe…pervo

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(14:02 PM)  
_good, coz i seriously reconsidered ever sleeping with u again right there…thatd be a damn shame

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(14:03 PM)  
_i kno right?

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(14:03 PM)  
_i told u i was good

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(14:04 PM)  
_shut up laura

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(14:04 PM)  
_make me, bitch

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(14:05 PM)  
_if only i could :'( its been lonely without ur touch

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(14:06 PM)  
_o god

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(14:06 PM)  
_shit, i hear logan coming…i gotta go

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(14:07 PM)  
_mmmmk

_**69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(14:07 PM)  
_ill try to be on tomorrow

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(14:08 PM)  
_same time, same bat channel

_ **69 xX LaURa Xx 69** __milf!! __(14:09 PM)  
_bye bye

_**heLLion** __you're going to the special hell, the one reserved for child molesters, and people who talk in the theatre! __(14:09 PM)  
_bye now


	19. 4: Pleasantries 2:3 field day

**A/N: **Yayay semi foof chapter. That's why the arc is called Pleasantries. Before a storm comes a clam...er, I mean calm...I read a funny engrish on engrish (dot) com that said  
"Before a clam comes a storm". Tehehe. I 3 teh engrish. I also frequent icanhascheezburger (dot) com. Oddly enough it inspires me to write (mostly the funny chapters).  
**  
**

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Pleasantries" 4 Issue: 2/3 )**

 **Chapter 48: field day **

* * *

Julian fell into a new routine; every afternoon, Laura managed to sneak on, and they'd continue conversing. He still missed her.  
He couldn't sleep at night. He even wondered if she'd started to show, in her pregnancy. When the X-men said separated, they _  
meant_ separated. Finally two weeks were up, and as soon as his door was unlocked, he rushed to her room and pounded on the door.

"Laura! Open up!" he said into the door.

She didn't answer. He turned around, his hands in his pockets, and gaped; Logan was walking down the hallway, a beat-up looking,  
unconscious Laura in his arms. She had bruises everywhere.

"Looking fer this?" Logan asked Julian, grinning.

"—!—" Julian stared. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"Nothin," Logan said. "She did this to herself. Didn't listen to my instructions, and her hologram beat her up. Nothin broken…she should  
be fine, soon as her healing factor kicks in." He motioned for Julian to open the door, which he did, and followed the X-man in.

Logan laid his clone on the bed gently. "Stubborn girl," he said grimly. "She'll get herself killed someday."

"Not if I can help it," Julian said, a little more fiercely than he'd intended.

Logan glanced at it him sharply. "You care about her, don't you?" he asked.

Julian rubbed his face with his hand. "Yeah…unfortunately."

"Love her?" Logan studied his face.

He flushed. "I don't see how it's any of your business, but, yeah, I do."

"I'm her guardian," Logan grunted. "Basically her father, the only one she really has. Or her brother. Little troublemaker is my responsibility.  
Of course it's my business." He sneered at Julian. "I don't care much for you, Keller…you're a little snot, just like the rest of them...but I'm  
impressed you didn't run away from her situation, I'll give you that."

"Wow. I'm glad you have such a high opinion of me," Julian said. "If it impresses you more…I also lost a twenty point three billion dollar enterprise,  
and an enormous estate...because I stood by her."

"Not really," Logan said, but Julian could tell he was considering it. They watched Laura in silence for a while, then Logan turned and left the  
room without further comment, closing the door behind him.

Julian sat down on the edge of Laura's bed and brushed her hair out of her face.

**… **

Laura opened her eyes suddenly.

"AHHH!"

Julian frowned.

"Gee. Thanks. Although, technically, if anyone should be startled here, it's me. You're a mess, Laura…black and blue."

Laura scowled. "What're you doing in my room?"

"Am I not allowed?" he asked, stroking her hair. "I thought we were past that. Anyways, Logan let me in, when he was bringing you back from  
your meat-sack session."

"You're a riot, Keller," Laura said flatly.

"So I've been told." He leaned forwards and kissed her gently; Laura hesitated for a moment, unsure, then sat up and wrapped her arms around  
his neck, pulling him closer. "Oww…" she said after a moment, pulling away. "My rib's off."

"Poor baby," he said, only half-jokingly. "Shower?"

"Please," she said, her eyebrows drawn together. He picked her up and carried her to the bathroom, marveling at how light she was, considering  
the fact that her hands and feet contained metal. He closed the toilet lid with his mind and set her down, then began to peel her uniform off of her.

"Jesus Christ, Laura. Why isn't your healing working?" he asked, as blossoming bruises were revealed. "I'm taking you to Elixir after this."

Laura looked down. "Dr. McCoy said all the available resources went to healing the baby. I drank a bit more than I thought. It's fine now…but I'm not  
going to be healing anything for a week or two."

Julian slid his thumbs over her shoulders. "Well, good thing it's okay. I swear, if you lose it after you got me disowned...you better not disappoint me."

He grinned and kissed her forehead, pulling down her bra straps, then moved lower. "Oh, look…you're showing a bit." Sure enough, Laura's stomach was  
beginning to bulge slightly.

"_You're _related to it. Of course it's going to be a dissapointment," Laura said, sneering.

"Wow, thanks." He kissed her belly, and she watched him with a softened expression.

**… **

"The rules: Whoever succeeds in taking the Hulk down the fastest ultimately wins, with a maximum time of twenty minutes. However, no civilians can be  
harmed; nor can the Hulk be killed, or mortally wounded. Otherwise, this is free-for-all. Each team will be running the simulation separately. The teams will  
wait in the locker room until called. The order: the New Mutants, the Corsairs, the Hellions, the Paragons, and the Alpha Squadron. The other squads in the  
school will perform this field day tomorrow. Good luck." Scott made a mark on his clipboard.

"Progeny, Wind Dancer, as your team is up first, you may follow me."

Julian scowled, watching them go. "We're fucking third, because we've lost so many points," he complained. "I hate waiting. This is so unfair…they've got Sof  
and Wallflower…that's the ultimate combination on someone like the Hulk."

Laura made a loud yawning noise.

The squad followed him to the locker room, where they sat down on a bench.

"So what's our strategy going to be?" Cessily asked, rubbing her arm. "I mean, you're right…Mantega and Collins are custom-made for this kind of simulation.  
She's just going to calm him down, guaranteed."

Julian leaned against his locker, frowning. "Well, first we'll have to make sure no one gets hurt. Fucking civilians…Brian, you tag Hulk, and then everyone else will  
work on clearing them."

Laura rolled her eyes. "Real smart, Keller. Make the big angry monster with giant feet run like crazy, in fear."

"Yeah? What would _you_ do different?" Julian sneered, annoyed.

"Oh, I don't know." Laura grinned. "I have an idea, but I don't know if it'll work. Besides, we need to distract him. So…I heard from a little birdie named Logan that he's  
vulnerable to adamantium. How about I hamstring him? I wouldn't count that as a mortal wound."

"That's one ugly birdie," Santo commented.

"He'll heal," Julian said thoughtfully.

"_You_ concentrate on keeping the wounds apart once I make them," she said. "Funny thing about healing factors…once a piece of dirt heals the wound,  
the part just don't work right." She nodded in Rockslide's direction. "Oooh," Julian said, rubbing his chin. "I like, I like. And what's Brian doing?"

"Tagging civilians. Kincaid…you can change shape, right?"

"Quite easily…" the silver-skinned girl said.

"Make a wall around the fight, so no one runs into it," Laura continued. "Sooraya, since you pretty much can't be harmed in dust form, you distract him so  
he won't be gnatting at me while I work. And Ford…" she looked at Wither. "The idea. Have you ever tried touching something through an organic conduit?"

"What? No…what do you mean?" Kevin asked.

"Like a piece of wood. Poke someone with a stick you're holding with your bare hand. Wouldn't it dampen it a bit?"

"I…I dunno," he said.

"You wanna try it today?" She grinned. "Keller's got a piece you can use."

"Haha, so funny, Kinney. You can shut up now and go back to being pretty," Julian said. "But in all seriousness…I like your plan. That's what we'll do, then…it  
sounds like it has a chance of working, if everyone moves quickly. Very worst, we'll come second place, which isn't bad, seeing as it's completely unfair."

**… **

"Hellion…" Scott called through the open door. "You're up. You have a plan?" "Yeah," Julian said, his hand on Laura's lower back.

"Why is Kinney wearing your jacket?"

"She got cold," Julian grumbled.

"Not my fault Frost didn't give me one," Laura said calmly. "Notice that _her_ uniforms always have some sort of cape or jacket, no matter how skimpy.  
I think she's punishing me."

"Actually, you weren't assigned one because we thought it would impede your performance," Scott informed her. "If you want one, I'll have it made for you."

"How nice of you," Laura said. "Did you choose the codename 'Cyclops' yourself, or where you a pornstar before this?"

Scott ignored her; the Danger Room doors slid open with a mechanical noise. The great metal room was empty. The squad walked in; Scott called 'good luck'  
just before the doors hissed shut again behind them. They looked at each other awkwardly as they waited for the scenario to begin.

"So…yeah…stuff," Santo said.

"Everyone know what they're doing?" Julian asked.

"Yep," Brian said, flexing his fingers. "I got to move fast to get all that shit done. I have like the hardest part in this exercise."

"Not really," Cessily said. "I'm enclosing the whole thing. Should I leave the top open?"

"Ummm…" Julian said.

"Yes," Laura said. "Keller, you're flying for it. I don't feel like spending my afternoon scraping your insides off the ceiling…I've had enough punishment as it is."

"Oh yeah, man, what the hell happened with you two?" Brian asked. "You were gone for a month and a half."

"It's a long story," Julian said. The walls suddenly began changing; they were in a street, filled with pedestrians…and an enormous green figure was  
beating his chest and roaring. "Rockslide! Get him away from there!" Julian shouted, taking to the air.

"Hey, Booger-man! Over here! Yeah you! You look like something God picked out of his nose!" Santo shouted, grinning.

Cessily zipped around the two as the Hulk ran towards Rockslide, forming a smooth, topless cylinder. Santo allowed the monster to punch him, breaking him  
apart into pebbles; Sooraya picked up the attack from where she had been lying on the ground in sand-form. She flew into the Hulk's eyes, and he roared.

"Keller! Pick me up!" Laura called, having been excluded. He made a fist, and she was hurled over the edge of the tube.

"It's Hellion on the field, babe," he rebuked her as she passed him.

"Whatever." Laura popped her claws, cannon-balling down the tube.

Julian glanced to make sure Tag was doing his job, then perched on the edge of Cessily, floating Kevin up beside him. "Hope you don't mind," he grinned.  
"Not at all," Cessily said, making a face. Hulk had elbowed her in the material that usually made up her rib area. "Tickles!" she exclaimed.

"KELLER!" Laura called, and he looked down and spread his fingers, concentrating on the area that Laura's claws were inserted into. The Hulk roared;  
Laura ducked an elbow heading in her direction, and jammed her claws into the other. "Viccaro! Do your bit!" she shouted. Santo suddenly injected  
two large rocks into the wounds, the others reforming into his usual craggy shape. "I did good?" he asked. "If you say so." Laura nimbly danced  
sideways to avoid Hulk's punch.

"He's immobilized now. KELLER!" she shouted upwards; Julian patted Kevin on the back then pushed him down, concentrating on controlling his descent.

"Look up! In the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's STICK-MAN!" Santo gasped.

Kevin, glove in between his teeth, wielded his stick like a weapon with his gloved hand, and poked the Hulk in the back of his neck at the same moment  
as he touched his fingers to it. The enormous creature blinked—and fell over, stupefied. The walls faded, to metal.

"AHH!" Julian yelled, so distracted with their success that he didn't notice Cessily reforming.

He toppled on top of Laura, who only had time to lean backwards to avoid the full effect.

"Wow, I thought only angels fell from heaven," Laura wheezed. "You sure aren't, and you're not light either, you know that? I think I have a concussion."

"Sorry, guys!" Cessily said, wincing. "You okay Laura?"

"I like that no one is concerned with _my_ welfare," Julian said from the floor. "I'm fine, thank you for asking."

"That's because it was your fault," Laura said, pushing herself up.

The doors opened, and Scott came in, followed by Emma, who was beaming. "That was quite impressive," Scott said. "A definite improvement. Nice strategy, Hellion."

"It was Laura's idea," Julian said as he got to his feet. His words surprised her. She'd expected him to steal the credit only too happily.

Wither, meanwhile, was pulling on his glove, looked excited. "This is awesome! I can finally _do_ something!"

"Laura's a genius," Cessily said, all smiles.

"She certainly seems to be excellent at strategy," Emma said, arching her eyebrows.

Laura rubbed her arm, uncomfortable with the attention. She hated being watched by people.

"How did we do, time-wise?" Julian asked. "30 seconds," Scott said. "Yours is the fastest, so far. The New Mutants are now in second place,  
with 35 seconds, and the Corsairs in third with one minute fourteen seconds."

Julian looked smug. Santo picked the two boulders off the floor that a few moments ago had been lodged in the Hulk's severed tendons.

"You may return to the locker room, or the cafeteria, until the field Day is complete. Jean is going to be summoning the squads telepathically  
when the results are out. Good job."

The squad followed him out, arguing amongst themselves where they wanted to wait.

"Cafeteria," Laura hissed in Julian's ear. "It's hungry. It wants eggsss…"

**… **

"That was fucking awesome, Laura," Julian said enthusiastically. He had followed her to her room, still in uniform, in that puppyish-way he  
sometimes demonstrated. "Was that so hard? Being involved? I wish you'd have done that before. What changed your mind?"

Laura closed her eyes, her hand on the doorknob and the other on her lower back. It was killing her; the baby, although still tiny, seemed to  
be pressing against her spine. She felt like a la-z-boy chair. "You seemed so intent on it," she admitted.

"You _like_ me, don't you?" he grinned. He leaned forward and kissed her slowly.

"Mmph. Maybe." She turned away, opened her door and stepped in.

Julian frowned and followed her, closing her door behind.

"What's wrong? You're not mad at me, are you?"

"I'm not PMSing, if that's what you're suggesting," Laura said, rubbing her back. "You kind of took care of that. Your offspring is playing with my insides."

She grimaced it him. "It's got a nasty sense of humor… like you."

"Aw," he said. "Healing still down? You looked fine today."

"It comes and goes. I'm just really tired and achey right now." She fingered the edge of her red, X-shaped ribbed top. "This shit's so uncomfortable."

"Here...let me try something." Laura looked at him, her eyebrow arched; Julian made a face of supreme concentration, stuck out his tongue, raised his hands,  
and parted them. Her clothes fell off as one unit.

"That was impressive," she said. "Reached new levels of desperation, have we?"

"I was watching Bruce Almighty last night," Julian said with a shrug. "Foley bet me ten dollars that I couldn't do it. I sure showed him."

He leaned back, his elbow on her dresser, and ran his eyes over her in an obviously appraising manner. "I'd do you," he grinned.

"In your wettest dreams, Keller," Laura said, calmly moving towards him and pulling her drawer open like he wasn't there.

She began to ruffle through her underwear, slapping his hand away as he tried to seize a pair of lacy ones. "What the—you never have _these _on for me!" he said,  
the underwear floating past her grasp anyway to his hand.

"Yeah, nylon gives me swamp ass," Laura said. "It's not like I want to turn you on or anything. It just happens anyways, no matter what I do to prevent it."

"You're pretty," he said, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Please take your gloves off…you're creeping me out," Laura said, moving to her tank top drawer.

It was then he noticed it—a few tiny black lines on the nape of her neck, almost completely covered by her hairline. "Wait a sec—hold still, beautiful."

"Huh?" Julian pulled off his glove with his teeth and ran his fingers through her hair, pushing the follicles aside. He dropped the glove.

"You have a barcode tattooed on the back of your neck, Laura," he said.

"Huh? Oh, that. Yeah…from my clone days." Laura grinned at him and shut the drawer with a snap. "Every clone was supposed to have one. X-1 through X-22,  
apparently, died in utero. I was the miracle baby…X-24 through X-50 were supposed to be tattooed in the same fashion. I am Weapon XI." She closed her eyes.  
"Mom had a little talk with me at Christmas..."

"Damn," Julian said after a moment. "So I could've had more of you, huh? I _do_ have a thing for clones…I took all five Cuckoos on a date once, y'know. I was a little  
worn out after. I'm good for three, even four times in a row…but I have to say I didn't give poor little Sophie the attention she deserved. You might've noticed her  
giving me longing glances in the hall—OW!"

Laura slapped him in the face with the glove he had dropped.

"Jerk," she mumbled.

"Aw, I was just kidding." He lifted her chin with his hand and kissed her again. "You know I don't want anyone but you."

Laura flushed and turned away. "I'm going for a shower. I feel disgusting."

"You know it was just simulated dirt, right?" Julian asked, grinning again.

"_You're _simulated dirt," she shot back, grabbing a pair of yoga pants and heading for the bathroom.

"Coming or not?" she asked, turning on the lights.

"Didn't realize I was invited," Julian called after her, wasting no time. He stripped off his top and threw it on her floor, slipping through the closing door at the last moment.  
He knew Laura could be awfully cruel sometimes if he wasn't on his toes. He knelt down, kicked his boots off. Straightening, he undid his belt and lost his pants and boxers  
as one unit, throwing them in the corner carelessly.

"You're only invited so you can wash my aching back," Laura said, passing him a sponge. "Soap's in the basket, on the toilet." He looked at the basket for a moment, trying  
to locate the bottle amongst the many things crammed into it. "It's cream colored," Laura added. He spotted it and picked up the bottle.

"Jergen's Baby soap," he read from the label. "Original formula, scentless."

"Perfumes irritate my delicate nasal cavity," she said, turning on the water.

"Hey, I wasn't poking fun," Julian said, carrying the bottle to the shower. "You _are_ a babe, so it's technically correct.  
This is the soap for you. AHHHH!" Laura had turned the water on him, and it was ice-cold—as per usual.

"You're crazy," he sputtered.

Laura smiled at him smugly.


	20. 4: Pleasantries 3:3 domestic

**NOTE: **New story released--" Cowpie", Helix AU--check author page.

**A/N: **Haha, TGIF! I think this chapter is pretty interesting too... ;c) enjoy!

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Pleasantries" 4 Issue: 3/3 )**

 **Chapter 49: domestic **

* * *

In Biology, during a peer-study session, Beak turned to Laura. "So when are you two coming over for dinner? I have to let Angel know ahead of time,  
or I imagine she'd get pretty upset. Not that I've ever brought anyone over before."

"Excuse me?" Laura asked, blinking.

"You know, since you're going to be the first couple at the school since us to start a little family…we should get to know each other," Beak continued.

Julian froze; he made a throat-slashing gesture at the other boy.

"Did you _tell_ him?" Laura glared at the perpetrator.

Beak saw his error. "No, he didn't! It was a simple deduction, yes…you have the radiant glow around you…and the round tummy."

Laura definitely wasn't showing enough to be noticed.

"Thanks, asshole," Julian grumbled, his face in his hands. He'd known things had been too perfect; he'd had Laura at the point that he could take a _shower_  
with her, for god's sakes! Something just had to come along and fuck it up, always. This was going to be Laura's new hissy fit, resulting in a month-long  
series of doors slammed in his face, occasional yelling matches the only break between insanely long periods of ignorance.

"Oh," Laura said. "I haven't met Angel. She's your girlfriend, right?"

Julian stared at Laura like she was a new species he'd never seen before. He was alarmed—he'd never heard her speak decently to Barnell, and the fact  
that she wasn't throwing a tantrum over his slip-up…his eyes were so wide that Laura raised an eyebrow at him, and Barnell looked over her shoulder,  
concerned. "You alright there, Julian?" he asked.

"I…uh…nothing," he said.

"Yes, Angel is my girlfriend, with whom I have six lovely babies," Beak continued. "We named them after the Jackson family! They are so beautiful and cute  
and perfect."

Laura grinned. "That's awesome, the Jackson family. Do you have a Michael?"

Beak nodded. "Before you ask…no, he has not shown any homosexual tendencies, nor does he seem to be a pedophile."

"He's still a baby himself," Julian pointed out. "I think you have to wait for him to grow up first before you can be sure of that."

"Be quiet, Julian," Laura said, but she still seemed amused. "You know what? We're free on Saturday..."

Julian waited till the end of class to comment on this, and pulled her aside in the hallway. "When did the abduction occur? Because you're _not_ the Laura Kinney I know."

"It's not like I've had a kid before," she answered quietly. "Don't play dumb, Keller...you might like it too much and forget how to think altogether. I _know _you went  
through the effort of making friends with him…so you could get some tips. But you didn't think that I might want some tips, too. And according to the shit I've been  
reading, this thing is going to need things to occupy it when it comes out, so it's not screaming its head off all the time. I think 12 other infants should be quite  
sufficient, don't you?"

Julian nodded and kissed her forehead. "Don't forget…"

"Your squad practice at 4, yes, I know," Laura said, sticking her tongue out at him. As usual, he focused on the stud, and she walked off laughing at his  
fixated expression.

**… **

"All right, Hellions, you have a little situation here," Emma Frost said, her hands on her hips. Each student was standing on a metal platform in the danger room,  
facing her and awaiting instructions. "When I begin the simulation, you will each be occupied with your own problem. As a team and as individuals you will have  
to overcome the problems, until everyone is free." Emma smiled. "Yes, I know, this simulation is rather generic…the New Mutants ran it last week. However, it's  
good basic practice, and I am rather curious as to what strategy you will apply."

She glanced at Laura, still smiling, and so Laura stood facing her, her back ramrod straight.

"Yes, _SIR!_" she bellowed, her voice echoing in the empty danger room. Emma sighed. "Ignored, Kinney. Dust, please shift to your sand form."

Sooraya complied, watching her mentor warily. "Computer: start program!"

Julian opened his mouth to make a comment that he couldn't see what could bring _him_ down, but he suddenly found himself quite occupied; his private simulation  
involved a sound siren that brought him to his knees and made him quite unable to think. "AhhhhhHHHH!" he yelled, covering his ears in agony.

"So here is what's going on," Emma said, still watching. "Hellion is occupied with a loud, ear-splitting noise that is preventing him from forming thoughts. Dust is  
trapped in a tornado, unable to reform or escape. Mercury is being electrocuted with 10,000 volts of electricity." Cessily was screaming in the background.  
"It will not harm her, but it is certainly rendering her incapable of escaping, as her molecules are conducting the energy. Rockslide, meanwhile, is trapped in  
a steel tube." A shiny case had formed around the largest of the students; it did not even dent as he pounded his fists against it.

"Hey! Who turned out the lights? MISS FROST, I HAVE TO PEE!" Santo yelled.

"I think he might be a bit claustrophobic," Emma said calmly. "X-23, you are fighting your ultimate match, Kimura."

Laura's eyes widened as the crazy woman suddenly appeared on the small round disk that only had a diameter of about six feet. "Miss me, X?" Kimura asked,  
grabbing her hair and slamming her against the invisible force field at the edge of the disk. Laura gritted her teeth.

"And, Wither, you are going to be a free agent." Emma smiled. "There's one little catch to this exercise. For every squad member freed, one must take their  
place in that spot and overcome the attack with their better-suited powers. It ends when each of you have rotated once and are no longer in danger."

Emma turned. "You are welcome to begin at any moment." She left the Danger Room, the doors hissing shut behind her.

"Get me out of here!" Julian roared, blood running down from his ears. Kevin began to run towards him.

"Nonono Ford over here!" Laura was scraping her claws down Kimura's front, to no avail. Kimura punched her in her sternum; she exhaled involuntarily.

Her eyes widened. _Relax, she has been programmed to avoid any area below your solar plexus or above your thighs,_ Emma told her breezily. Too breezily  
for her preference.

"What d'you want _me_ to do?!" Kevin asked, a little panicked.

"Don't be stupid…touch her!" Laura wheezed, her arms stretched against the round walls of the force field for support.

"But I'll kill her," Kevin said.

"Do I _look_ concerned?" Laura asked, dodging a nasty blow from Kimura's unbreakable fist. "Just do it! Kimura's a psychopathic killer!"

Wither hesitated, but pulled off his glove and ran towards the force field. It made a weird noise, a slurp as he reached through it; then he seized hold of  
Kimura's face from behind.

"ARRGH!" the woman yelled, toppling over and twitching. Surprisingly, she had not decayed.

"Ford…you stay here," Laura said, rubbing her neck. Kimura had been choking her when Kevin had knocked her out.

"I'll grab Vaccarro next…I'm the only one who can destroy that tube. You stay here, with Kimura. If she gets up again, feel free to molest her."

"How come I didn't kill her?" Kevin asked, confused. "Her skin, in particular, is invulnerable, and quite probably synthetic," Laura said. "She was designed to withstand me."

Without further explanation, she ran out of the field and towards Santo's, her claws popping. She swept her claws in an arc, cutting a doorway in the steel, then stepped  
aside as it crashed to the ground. "Vaccarro, you are a psionic rock entity. If I am correct…you don't have ears, right?"

"Not really," Santo said. "You go and get that dumb bitch Keller then," Laura said, looking towards Julian's cell. He looked pretty much incapacitated; a fair amount of blood  
was on the floor of his disk. "And you tell Keller that he's going to get Qadir out of _her_ chamber. And _then_…I've taken enough physics and chemistry to know that sand  
doesn't conduct electricity too well. So she's going to free Kincaid. You got that?"

"Keller, Qadir, Kincaid," Santo said. "I think so."

"Go!" Laura said, pushing him out of the doorway. Santo ran towards Julian's cell and punched at the force field (before realizing that he could just walk through it);  
he stumbled in, fell to his knees, and copied Julian for a few moments, screaming about the noise. "Oh, right…no ears," he grinned. "So yeah…" he mouthed something,  
then picked up his teammate by the back of his uniform and hurled him out.

Julian rolled on the floor in front of Laura's new disk. "Urrrgh..." he moaned.

"Get up," Laura advised him. He blinked, obviously more than a little deaf; Laura reached out and touched his shoulder, then made some hand motions. She pointed at Dust,  
then at Mercury; Julian pointed at his bleeding ears. They really looked quite awful. Laura grinned and made some other motions with her fingers; he scrambled to his feet  
and ran towards Dust's cell with a new burst of energy. "Sooraya!" he shouted, hurling himself headfirst into the tornado. At first Laura thought he'd been dumb enough to  
enter it without protection (in which case he would be flayed alive and her child would be an orphan), but then she saw a dim green glow in the middle of the sandstorm.

A moment later, the tube cleared as a mass of glowing green particles swept out, and Julian waved at her from the center. He made a dumb, pulsing, heart-shaped hand  
gesture at her, followed by something else. Laura turned away in disgust.

Sooraya swept into Cessily's cell and imposed herself as a swirling sheet of sand in between the two connection points. Gasping for unneeded air, the blob of mercury that  
had been in the center reformed, and Cessily stumbled out. "Well done," Emma said over the announcement system.

The disks powered down, and Julian dropped to the ground as per usual, except this time he was bleeding all over the floor. Laura ran over to him and turned his head to the side.

"His eardrums are ruptured," she said, frowning in concern.

Emma swept into the room, her cape floating behind her like a wave. "I want to see you two in my office, in an hour," she said, looking pleased. "Take him to Elixir first. Oh, and  
Miss Kinney…an excellent job." Laura was silent.

**… **

"Thanks," Julian said, rubbing his ear. He had a mild headache, but it was nothing compared to the overwhelming pain of earlier. It had been accompanied with vertigo, and he'd  
tipped Laura over with him several times as he limped down the hallway, leaning heavily on her shoulder for support.

"I didn't catch most of the show…but I thought you were awesome, Laura."

Foley grinned beside them. "Your girlfriend save the day? Mine does that a lot."

"Did you tell him?" Laura asked, her eyes burning.

"No." Julian shot Foley a look.

"If you need tips on getting blood out of your uniform…_my_ girlfriend washes mine for me all the time. She's awesome at it." Elixir met his gaze evenly; it said _we'll talk later. _

"Does Laura wash yours for you, Keller?"

"No, 'coz I'm a big boy and can do it all by myself," Julian answered.

"We've got to go see Frost," Laura said, ignoring the exchange between the two. She turned and left the room as he lowered himself from the gurney.

"Dude…we are so going out on Saturday! You've obviously got a lot to tell me," Foley said, deciding she was out of earshot.

"Actually, I have plans," Julian said stiffly. Then he rubbed his neck. "Sunday?"

"You're on, and you're buying," Foley grinned.

"We'll have to have a little talk about that too," Julian said, wincing.

**… **

Emma Frost beamed at her two students across the oaken expanse of her desk, her fingertips together. "I am very, _very_ impressed with the team's improvement,"  
she said indulgently. " At the rate the Hellions are progressing, I wouldn't think it too soon to say we are going to win this year!"

Julian rubbed his ear absently. "Yeah, awesome. I'm impressed."

Laura folded her arms. She really rather wanted to be lying in the soft chair Logan had bought her for her room, with its lumbar support; she wanted a bowl of whipped  
cream and strawberries; and she wanted to be reading a book. And although she didn't want to admit it, her iPod headphones would be applied to her stomach, playing  
soft music for the _thing_. She'd read somewhere that this was very good for it, and had actually downloaded "baby Mozart". She'd jacked it off the net, of course, and  
alternated between that, NiN and Nirvana—and, of course, Tori Amos. She wanted it to be well-educated in pop culture.

"Laura…I believe this change is due to your newfound team spirit. I would like to make you the team's leader."

Both Julian and Laura sat bolt upright.

"WHAT?" Julian asked.

"Absolutely not," Laura fumed. "It's Julian's team."

" You are a better strategist," Emma said. "You know how to deliver orders. People do what you say when you tell them to. I see in you the next Cyclops."

Julian had turned beat-red, and Laura guessed he was in turns very angry and very hurt. She'd seen how hard he worked for this team; he actually spent good deals  
of his free time reading books on battle strategy, and doing homework assigned for him by Cyclops.

"I am also pregnant and have a delivery date drawn up for August of next year, although it could be sooner, with my healing factor," Laura said coolly, staring at  
Emma. "I expect to spend weeks if not months in agony because my bottom has been stretched beyond recognition—since I am not a candidate for a Cesarean  
section—and Dr. McCoy has predicted my healing factor will be exhausted during this period." She paused. "Then I will be spending the next twenty _years_ of my  
life caring for this infant, waking up possibly five times a night to feed it in the beginning, and helping it to vomit on my shoulder. So, no, I would not make a good  
leader for the Hellions."

Emma leaned back in her chair. "You have such great potential, Laura. I would hate to see you waste it on child-bearing."

"—!—" Julian folded his arms. " So, let me get this right: I've been disowned, I'm a lousy X-man, I suck at leading, and now my child isn't worth having?"

" Be quiet, Julian," Laura said. "Emma…I refuse the offer. Julian is the squad's leader, end of story. I only participated to make him happy. If this threatens that  
arrangement in _any_ way, I _will_ go back to being a goof-off and fucking things up as badly as I can." Emma engaged Laura in a staring contest.

" Please reconsider," the older woman said angrily.

" No." Laura refused to budge. Julian blinked; he hadn't realized that Laura cared that much about his interests, so much as to refuse a great opportunity for herself  
because it would be unfair to him.

"Laura…you _are_ really good at strategy," he said thoughtfully.

Laura tilted her head to glare at him. "Keller. This doesn't really work if you're not with the program."

" No," Julian said. "Why don't we do what Mantega and Alleyne are doing? Split it between us?"

Laura blinked; Emma did, too.

"But I don't want to lead," Laura said, confused. " Then don't. You can call it whatever you want...strategist, strategy specialist, co-leader…I really don't give a shit.  
But I'm not stupid enough to kill a good thing when I see it."

"I would accept this compromise," Emma said, smiling at Laura again. Laura felt overwhelmed. In truth, she had started to enjoy the events; once she realized it was all  
like a big puzzle, she began to not mind participating so much. For the first few, she'd kept silent, mentioning an idea here and there; but in the last two, she'd been  
unable to refrain from sharing her viewpoint.

" I guess we could try it," Laura said grudgingly.

**… **

" I don't know about this, Keller. What if we start fighting again?"

" Then we fight, and we'll have angry sex…and then make-up sex, so I win both ways," Julian grinned. "Seriously...what could go wrong? If it were anyone else, I'd be so  
fucking upset right now, I'd go back in Frost's office and destroy it. But it's you, Laura." He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "You're not the power hungry type…  
I think it'll be awesome."

Laura closed her eyes. "We're sleeping here tonight, Shrimp and I," she announced, patting her tiny, rounded belly. It was two months along now, and she'd shown him a  
picture in a baby book of what it probably looked like right now. It looked like a tiny shrimp, which was what she had declared it would be called until it received a proper name.

"You guys should just move in," Julian murmured into her neck, near the barcode. "You can have the closet. And half my wardrobe. I'll let you do whatever you want."

Laura's eyes opened. "Keller…"

"Why don't you want to?" he asked.

"It's a big change," she said. "What if we can't handle being in that tight quarters? What if we want space, time away from each other?"

"Then take it. It's a big school. Besides, you'll probably be glad for the extra help when Shrimp comes out. We should get all the shit done _now_, while you still can move without difficulty."

Laura sat up and hugged her knees against her chest. "Keller, we can't stay here forever, with a kid. This isn't the best atmosphere for the early years."

"I was going to ask Mrs. Grey-Summers if we could have a little house, like Beak and Angel got. Maybe we could be neighbors, and have little white picket fences,  
with gardens in the back." He wiggled his eyebrows at Laura, his hands behind his head.

"That would be dangerous," Laura said. "You're too clumsy for a picket fence, Keller."

" Ha, ha," he said, running his thumb down her spine. " We gonna get to _see _it soon?"

"I have my first Ultrasound this Monday. You want to come?"

" Uh huh." Julian sat up and kissed her shoulder. "I always wanna come."

"Gag," Laura shuddered. " Shrimp thinks you're disgusting. It told me it's going to disown you, too, as soon as it gets out."

" You suck," Julian growled.

" _I _suck. I wasn't the one playing Helen Keller back there. Oh, HAHAHA! That's awesome…"

"If I hear that again, I'm not responsible for what happens," Julian warned her.

"Whatever you say, Helen," Laura grinned.

**… **

Julian took Laura's hand as they tromped through the soggy grass of the school grounds, towards Beak's and Angel's small house. It was surprisingly  
well maintained; there was fresh paint on its exterior, and frilly edges on the doorframe and windows; and sure enough, a white picket fence, with a  
small garden. Julian whistled. "He may be a freak, but damn. He's doing better than I am," he said enviously.

"Do they have a doorbell?" Laura asked, searching the house's exterior.

" Oh, c' mon. This is Xavier's. _Everything_ has its own electronic device. The toilet seats heat themselves and wash your butt, the windows defog…  
hell there's a TV in the kitchen in case the fridge gets bored."

The door opened suddenly, and Beak stepped out, wearing an apron and oven mitts.

"They are here!" he squawked. A delicious smell wafted out behind him; Laura's nostrils flared.

"Casserole?" she asked, in a strange voice.

"Kind of. It's actually Chicken Cordon Bleu," Barnell said.

Julian pressed his lips together; he felt an urge to laugh, being served chicken by a…well, a chicken.

"BARNELL! You're letting the cold in!" Laura pushed past the boys, into the house; her eyes roamed and finally narrowed in on the casserole at the stove.

"…" she watched it with an odd expression, obviously desiring it.

" I'm sorry, she has no manners," Julian said, following her in and grabbing her by the shoulders. He turned her around to face Angel (who was holding one of  
their little bird baby crosses); Laura's boots made a squeaking noise on the floor as she tried to resist.

"I'm Julian Keller," he said, holding out his hand. "Hellion."

"Helen," Laura corrected. He ignored her.

" I've seen you before," Angel said, wrinkling her nose and bouncing the baby. It giggled. "You're one of them big squad leaders. No time for the real freaks,  
like us." She nodded at Laura. "And she is?"

" Hungry," Laura said. "And Shrimp."

" Laura! Come on, focus," Julian said, giving her a shake.

" Oh, fine. I'm Laura Kinney." She touched her belly. "This is shrimp. It's the main reason we're here."

" Yours is an idiot with condoms too, huh?" Angel asked, grinning. "At least you're honest."

" And hungry," Laura said. "Can I have some chicken?"

Angel looked at Barnell. "Is it ready, bird-brain?" she asked. "I don't know _how_ I managed to find a chicken that cooks and cleans," she added. " I thought they  
didn't exist. And, hey, if times get rough, he's like emergency rations."

Laura smiled slightly. She liked Angel already. "Of course, love," Barnell said. Julian made a silent promise: he would hang himself if he ever became that pussy-whipped.

"Can you teach Keller to cook?" Laura asked thoughtfully.

**… **

"Huh…hi," Julian yawned, opening his door to see Josh. " What's up?"

"We were going out!" Josh exclaimed. "What the fuck, man? Why are you not ready? You look like you were sleeping!"

" Oh fuck, it's Sunday?" Julian had slept in almost all day with Laura, having been up quite late the night before. Once fed, Laura had decided she'd liked Angel, and wanted  
to hang around with her; they'd stayed up drinking and playing board games (Laura's healing factor being active, and the Bohusk kids in bed).

He glanced back; Laura was curled in his bed, still out like a light.

" Yeah, it's Sunday! And there's no way you're worming out. You've been non-existent for the last three months. Unacceptable!" Josh grinned. "What happened to the  
good old days, when you'd sneak out with me and blow up the infirmary?"

Julian rubbed his neck. "I, um, got hit by a truckload of responsibility."

" Pfft. You can tell me all about it over Jaeger bombs," Josh grinned. "Go get your stuff…and your wallet."

" Foley—" Julian looked down. "I'm kind of not rich anymore."

" WHAT?!" Josh blinked. "Well, fuck you then! I was only in it for the booze."

" Shut up," Julian said, grinning.

**… **

" Dude…" Julian blinked against the effects of the shots. "It wasn't my fault…"

"Did you at least ask her to abort it?" Josh asked, incredulous.

"No…yes…at first." Julian fiddled with his beer. "I kind of made up my mind, though, that I love her...she's keeping it, so I'm keeping it. It goes hand in hand."

" That's so scary, coming from you," Josh said.

" I got disowned because of her," Julian said, hanging his head. "Over twenty billion dollars…now going to my brother, who whacks off to anime on the kid's station."

Josh snorted. " Sorry…I can't help it."

"She stole 200 year old booze from dad's collection. We drank it on the roof and got detention for three weeks…plus botulism. That's why they called you, hush-hush."

Josh snapped his fingers. " I _knew_ I felt a little something extra on her! God, Keller, she's such a bad influence on you."

"Frost just made her co-captain, too," Julian added.

" …" Josh stared at him. "Dude…I don't know what to say. Your life has gone down the shitter…literally…all this…and the abduction…how do you wake up in the mornings?  
It sounds like Kinney is nothing but trouble to you."

"I want to marry her," Julian said miserably. "But I can't afford a ring, and she'll say no anyway."

Josh put his head in his hands. "Don't _ever_ say that again. You make me sick!"

**… **

Monday afternoon arrived and found Julian and Laura on the bench outside Dr. McCoy's office again, his head on her shoulder. He'd had a terrible hangover that morning,  
having drunk more than planned, and she had not been pleased.

"You promised me you would come," she had said angrily. Julian wondered how many more head injuries he could handle. He'd had over five or six in the last term alone;  
even though they'd been healed, they had to leave a mark of some sort. Brain scars. He opened his eyes, and one of Laura's shirt buttons undid itself silently, giving him  
a nice view down her shirt. "Keller!" She thwapped him on the back of his head. _Seven head injuries,_ he thought, rubbing it tenderly.

"Ah, right on time," Dr. McCoy said, coming down the hall. "To the lab, please."

**… **

" There it is, that little white squiggle in the corner," Dr. McCoy said, pointing it out. It did indeed look like a shrimp.

Julian leaned forward with interest.

"Can you tell what sex it is?"

Dr. McCoy shook his head. "It's too early."

Julian squinted at the screen. "Hey, why is there another squiggle there?"

Laura looked up, startled. "Tell me it's just a piece of dirt on the screen," she said.

Dr. McCoy ran a cloth over the monitor, and stared at the extra spot. It remained.

" It's just a piece of dirt on the screen," he said, grimly.

Julian blinked. __

Twins.

"Thanks, asshole," Laura said bluntly


	21. 5: God Given 1:4 the mark has been made

**A/N: **SONG CHAPTER- "the mark has been made"_-Nine Inch Nails _(awesome song, entirely instrumental...)

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "God Given" 5 Issue: 1/4 )**

 **Chapter 50: the mark has been made **

* * *

" Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit." Julian cradled his head in his hands and rocked back and forth on the bed. " Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit."

"I think he's having a breakdown or something," Laura said, on the phone with her mother. "He keeps saying 'oh, shit' over and over, and rocking  
back and forth like a bum. Is it really that bad? I mean, come on, one for each…"

Julian let out a dry sob.

"I think he's going into convulsions," Laura said. "I should go. Bye, mom." She sat on the bed and poked him tentatively.

He curled away from her.

"Don't touch me! You'll just steal more sperm."

" Ha, ha," Laura said. "Last thing I want is more Shrimps. Should we call them Thing 1 and Thing 2?"

" How are we going to deal with this, Laura?" he asked lying on his back and flinging his arm across his face.

"I don't have the answers to everything, Julian," she sighed. " Angel and Bohusk seem to handle six just fine, though admittedly Angel looks a bit worn out.  
What else _can _we do but deal?"

Julian closed his eyes. " We can't afford two kids right now," he said. "We can't even afford _one_."

" Well, there's my mom, if things get bad…and Logan…and the school…between everyone, I don't think we'll starve…if that's what you're worried about."

" I think we need to be together, soon. I'm going to talk to Mrs. Grey-Summers about that house tomorrow. And Laura…we should talk about what we're doing…you  
know, in the future."

"We _are_ talking," Laura said uncomfortably.

" Between us," Julian said, wrapping an arm around her waist and catching her eyes. "Laura…I love you…I think we should, um, make it official."

She sat up. "No. No. I don't think we should, at all."

" We're having twins…" Julian winced. "We've shared the same horrible abduction. We even have some sort of weird past-life experience, or something…together.  
How much more involved can we get? Seriously? Are you waiting for us to get fused at the hip or something before you admit that you care about me, too?"

Laura got to her feet. "This conversation is over, Keller."

Julian laid in bed the rest of the day, holding his face in his hands. __

Twins.  
**  
… **

He left the office, feeling a little lighter. Mrs. Grey-Summers had promised she'd construct something for them—she said she had been thinking  
about making a little row of units for mutant family housing; and she told him that she would put a rush on it, and have it ready in about two  
months. Logan and Emma Frost, of all people, had offered to finance the small unit.

**… **

" Laura! I've been looking for you all day. I have good news," Julian said, catching her by his elbows, out on the patio, at night. It was a cold February night,  
and there was still snow on the ground. "They're going to take care of us…Frost and Logan are paying to make us a small place. It won't be much…"

She looked down.

"Keller…I still think it's a bad idea. What we have…if anything…is fragile and we shouldn't press it too much."

"Like you said, Laura, it's time to grow up," Julian said, his eyes narrowing. "I don't want to press you…believe me…but the pair…you're going to need my help.  
Look…we'll work something out, okay? I promise…I won't get in your space. You can have your own little room or something to go and sulk in."

Laura smiled a little. "Well…" Julian noticed she was shivering, and shrugged off his jacket.

"Stupid thing," he said affectionately, wrapping it around her shoulders. "I love you anyways," he said, a little softer as he pulled her closer. She leaned forwards  
and upwards to meet his lips; she stopped halfway, frowning. "Why is there a red dot on your—" __

Paf. 

Laura covered her mouth as Julian grabbed her shoulders, his eyes wide. There was now a round hole in his forehead, and the white snow was red. He exhaled,  
then began to fall. "Oh, don't you dare," Laura said, her voice strained.

Julian was too heavy for her to carry. So she screamed. "HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP!" she screamed, as loud as she could, like somebody was being murdered.

Which was pretty accurate. Students leaned out of their windows; in moments the teachers barged through the door.

Emma glared at the woods. " Gone," she said, looking for the perpetrator.

Logan was lifting up Julian, examining the round wound, his face grim.

"Best get him to Elixir, stat. Where is he anyhow?"

The students looked at each other, shrugging. Finally the blond haired girl spoke up. Wallflower. "Umm…he's at a bar or something, I think. The Cloverdale."

"He's not breathing." At this point, Laura wasn't sure who. She held out her hand to Logan, who brandished the keys to his bike. "Be careful, kid," he said.

" Somebody don't like you guys much."

**… **

Laura jumped off the bike, letting it fall on its side, and stomped in past the bouncer, who tried to ID her.

"JOSHUA FOLEY!" she shouted. The activity ground to a halt. There, in the corner…with Alleyne and another boy…she recognized his golden skin. Her eyes narrowed  
on him; she moved over to him and grabbed him by the back of his red and white X-jacket.

"What the—Kinney? What the hell?" Foley asked. " I'm trying to blend in here. Gee, thanks, _bye_. After what you did to Keller…"

"Julian Keller is dead," she said robotically. " He has been shot, by an unidentified assailant. The bullet is lodged in the frontal lobe of his brain."

Foley put down his mug. "Fuck! Jay, fly me there! Where is he?!"

"The mansion," Laura said. She sat down, trembling. " I do not know if you can do anything."

The boys rushed outside. Alleyne put a hand on Laura's shoulder. " Are you okay? You're covered in blood. You look like you're in shock. How did you get here?"

Laura let him lead her outside, to the fallen bike.

**… **

Laura sat outside the room, unable to watch. There was a team of eight mutants working on Julian; Elixir had healed the wound, but she'd been right, he wasn't  
able to make Julian breathe. They had tried everything in a very short period—both Wolverine's and Laura's blood had been drawn and injected, Surge had shocked  
him, and Emma had tried revitalizing him telepathically, all to no avail. Something was keeping him dead, something in the bullet. And they couldn't find it.

They'd searched every square inch of his head, but something had been released that was preventing anything from working.

They had contact Jean Grey in Hong Kong; she was on her way back, but it wouldn't be fast enough. Laura listened with deaf ears as they told her there was nothing  
more they could do. She still waited outside the door, unblinking.

**… **

The clock across the hall finally moved its arm to 12:00. Midnight.

_BANG!_

The doors at the end of the hallway opened violently, and Jean walked in, her hair on fire. __

**What will you give me?** she asked, her eyes black. Her figure seemed to brighten with each moment, until Laura realized that it was not Jean, it was just fire in  
humanoid form. Laura was dimly aware this was happening only in her mind.

"Everything," she said.

Phoenix glared at her, its nose seemingly sharper. Like a beak. Like Beak. How odd to think of Barnell Bohusk at this moment. It was like a bird, a big horrible bird  
with piercing eyes. Laura wanted to blink now, but she was unable to move.

"Everything," she said again, her voice stronger. "Everything I have."

Phoenix tilted her head, then she reached out and touched her forehead. It hurt, more than anything she'd ever felt. She might have cried out, she wasn't sure.

**… **

Laura sat up, from where she'd fallen on her side, her eyes still open. She walked stiffly through the doors into the room; it was empty now.

How much time had passed?

It didn't matter.

She ripped the sheet off his body violently; he looked pale, too pale. Dead. She touched his smooth forehead with the same finger the Phoenix had used on her.

Was it her finger? It was a million fingers, all on fire. Flaming fingers. They coursed through her, transferred, pulling, pushing; Julian arched off the bed in a seizure.

The bullet reformed and reversed its trajectory, slowly sucked out; the wound closed, he then gasped for air and sat up.

" Laura?" he asked, very confused.

With shaking hands, she held his face and kissed him, unbothered that his mouth was still full of blood and other fluids from what the bullet had done inside his head.

" I love you, too," she said, then turned and left.


	22. 5: God Given 2:4 a poem for byzantium

**A/N: **I LOL'ed when I read that, Laura K. Howlett. Awesome. And thank you Miss Nunya! XcD

**SONG CHAPTER: **A Poem For Byzantium _Joanna Stevens & Delerium_

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "God Given" 5 Issue: 2/4 )**

 **Chapter 51: a poem for Byzantium **

* * *

Laura's confused mind finally started to clear in the middle of a highway, with wind tearing at her face and hair. She was on Logan's bike.  
She saw a sign up ahead. __

Border, 10 miles. She could feel them, burning in her womb; she was no better…Weapon X…what she might have done out of selfishness…  
the shock slipped over her again. She was surprised she hadn't miscarried yet. __

Border, 5 miles. Strange thoughts, pictures in her head, not hers. _This is how it was supposed to be…you committed no crime,_ the residual  
energy soothed. She didn't know what it was, but it had left a mark, like a burn scar. There was blood on the white snow. Laura sped on, tears  
rolling down her face. She wanted, like her mother, to attempt suicide, but nothing could kill her. She'd tried before, tried everything…then…she  
pressed for more gas.

_Border, 2 miles. _It would be different if it had been her own mind, she reasoned. They didn't have a choice; it would consume their lives, like the  
facility had consumed hers. __

Border. She fake-smiled at the guard. "Hold it. We're going to need to see your passport, as well as your license papers for that bike. And you're in  
trouble for not wearing a helmet. _And_ why the hell are you covered in blood?"

The woman straightened. "Never mind…you have a nice day now!" she smiled and waved at Laura as she sped off. _If they are this powerful now_…

**…**

"I want to know where Laura is! I don't need rest!" Julian said angrily, still in his blood-covered t-shirt. He was trying to fight off Dr. McCoy, who was  
approaching him with a sedative. "I'm FINE! Stop it!" He struggled. The walls of the room began to crumble as his eyes glowed.

Emma Frost touched his forehead. "Mr. Keller, you have just been shot in the head. I am placing you in a light regenerative coma."

Julian's eyes slid shut, entirely against his will, and the room stabilized.  
**  
… **

"I cannot locate Miss Kinney," Emma said, frowning. "Not even the gray area that used to be her presence. She's always had an odd resistance to mental  
scanning…couldn't read her without exerting pressure. I suspect she had some sort of safeguard from her Weapon X days."

The Cuckoos tilted their heads in unison. "Nnnnneither can we, Miss Frost…it's like she has just disappeared off the psychic map."

"Or made herself invisible," Sophie added.

"Well, look harder," Logan growled. "She's not in any state to be roaming the wilderness by herself. There's a whole list of people who are gonna be mad if  
anything happens to her…starting with me." He didn't need to add what Julian might do if he woke up with her not there. "I'm taking your bike, Summers,"  
he said, holding out his hand.

Scott grudgingly dug the keys out of his pocket and handed them over. "Be careful with it, _please_. I just redid the interface. Don't press any buttons you  
don't recognize."

"Uh huh." Logan glanced at Emma. "Brain me if you find anything. I'm going to see if I can still catch a scent."

Emma nodded, her eyes closed.

**… **

Laura didn't stop, till the bike was out of gas. She refueled automatically, like she must have countless times on the way, with cash she didn't remember  
obtaining. The outer layers were covered in blood; she didn't know if she had taken it, or if she had put her blood-covered hand in her pocket at some  
point. There was blood on the white snow. This was Julian's jacket; she recognized the scent—and later by his wallet in the pocket. It comforted her  
somewhat; she was still shaking from the trauma of the night before last.

She paid for her gas, then realized she might not have eaten for days. Her stomach was throbbing dully, and she felt guilty; not only had she scared and  
possibly mind-raped her unborn children, but she was now neglecting to feed them. Laura bought a sandwich, although she really didn't want it, and gagged  
it down with a bottle of juice. Not carefully weighed for nutrition, but it would have to do. She got back on the bike and hung her head.

Where was she going? She needed to think, she needed to be clear. And at the same time, the exact opposite. She needed to _not_ be so clear.  
Everything was razor sharp and hurt her eyes; something in the room had melded with her head. She'd been broken down and rearranged, and  
filled with horrible thoughts. Looking at people, she judged how fast she could make them die, how she would do it. Her memories had been  
decimated, and she couldn't tell what had happened where and when. They were all floating loose in her head; for some reason, she couldn't keep  
the room shut. She saw her friends and acquaintances dying, one by one. Sarah in the snow, vital organs pierced by her claws; Wallflower, in a  
pool of blood; Cessily being stripped of her skin…her child taken from her just when she'd accepted it was going to exist…a fight...a horrible end.

At the same time as they were all alive…she was so confused. There was blood on the white snow. She chewed on her sandwich grimly, leaning  
against a telephone booth. Julian. She crunched the empty juice bottle, her eyebrows drawing together. It was so fresh, she could barely process it.  
He was alive, wasn't he? She wasn't entirely sure; she hadn't been in control when it had happened. All her consciousness had been consumed,  
holding the piece of the Phoenix; she had blacked out after, and come to on the bike. He was probably worried. But was he dead? If he was dead,  
he wouldn't worry. There was blood on the white snow.

Her eyes overflowed, and she swung her fist into the telephone booth's window. It shattered, fragments of glass exploding everywhere. A glass window,  
in an office, in an argument with Julian's father; a window in the mansion as it was destroyed; a window in a building, where she was arresting her ex-classmates.  
Time seemed to move too quickly for her to hold it. The pain helped a bit.

She finished her sandwich, then picked up the phone. She found a quarter in her pocket, and inserted it, then dialed a number. She could start here. It rang,  
it was picked up.

"Hello?"

Laura's hand shook, and she leaned her head against the phone box. "Sarah?" she asked, her voice strained. She was alive.

"Laura, is that you? What's wrong?" Sarah's calm, soothing voice, sounding worried. The voice that had read Pinocchio to her in a cell that existed somewhere else.  
The voice that freed her. It had died along with Sarah, and yet now it was speaking to her.

"Sarah…mom…" she sniffed. "I…I am sorry…for everything…I…" she left the phone hanging, Sarah shouting for her to come back—she could hear—she ran to the bike  
and leaped on. "I do not understand, I do not understand, I do not understand…" she said robotically, drowning herself out with the engine.

**… **

Logan slowed down. His cell phone was buzzing in his pocket. He'd just been on a real good trail; Laura's _and_ the Keller kid's scent (fainter), on his bike (he recognized  
the little extra special blend of fuel he put into it).

He ripped the phone out, and was annoyed. Sarah's name was on the display. He flipped it open.

"Yeah, I'm not in a social mood…you can beg for my forgiveness later, 'kay?"

Sarah inhaled. She was always so fucking breathy, so sad. Logan had said some horrible things to her in the 18 years he'd known of Laura Kinney's existence. He could  
never bring himself to overcome the sick things the woman had done to the poor girl, fucking up her existence so thoroughly to the point that she was full of bitterness,  
her hope dead. Not just teenaged angst…but real, bleak desolation.

When they'd rescued five-year-old-Laura that one horrible evening, she'd sat on his lap in the X-jet. He'd tried to talk to her, with a shaking voice, like a human.

She had stared at him, unblinking. "What is my mission?" she'd said, her voice like a robot.

"No, kid, no mission," Logan had said. The poor girl was so small…her bones fragile…it was bizarre to associate her with missions.

"Who is the target?" Laura had persisted. "Do I have 22 minutes?"

"No, no target. No time."

Laura had looked fearful. "I cannot complete the mission. Where is my handler? I must submit for punishment. I am sorry. Kimura will correct me."

He'd wanted to cry. Laura had had a look on her face that no child should ever experience, a fear of physical harm and possible death. And then he'd seen the pictures,  
and the video tapes…and the reports. He couldn't forgive that, no. The conversation with Dr. Kinney did not convince him to allow her to keep Laura. He'd told her flat out  
'no', told her he was taking Laura back to the mansion with him, for good. But Laura had convinced him, with a pleading look, when he'd tried to take her away from Sarah.  
She'd been unhappy, even sick, without the doctor's presence. He couldn't do that to her, cause her more harm; he'd made Sarah submit to a thorough, consensual telepathic  
exam from Xavier to prove that she would never again harm Laura; he'd made her swear. She promised him he could come and kill her in the most painful way imaginable,  
if she should lay a finger—physical or psychological—on Laura, ever, or in some way allow it to happen.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem that easy. Logan himself had let it slip through his fingers. Laura was now off to God-knows-where to go crazy; she'd flown the coop, because  
_he_ hadn't been on his toes. He blamed himself endlessly. So he was snappy with Sarah, an easy target to blame.

"Logan…Laura called me."

Logan stiffened, the bike tilting between his knees but not falling over because when locked his bones were much more resistant than the steel.

"Where is she?!" he demanded.

"Mexico," Sarah said softly. "Near the border. A phone booth in Ciudad Juárez. She's gone…she dropped the phone, and I heard a bike in the background.  
She sounded so lost, and scared…what happened?"

Logan clutched the cell phone in his hand. "How long ago was this?"

"About thirty seconds," Sarah said. "As long as it took for me to dial your number."

"Good girl," Logan said approvingly. "Fuck you! I'm still angry at you…don't think I'm forgiving you, Sarah…but you did the right thing. This time." He snapped the phone shut.

_EMMA! EMMA! GOD DAMNIT, COME IN!_ __

**No need to scream, Logan. You don't exactly sound like a choir of Angels.**

Logan rolled his eyes, starting the bike. _Sarah called, she just talked to Laura. In Mexico…Ciudad Juárez. I'm heading over._

Emma arched her mental eyebrow. _**We'll be waiting for you, with Laura, in the X-jet,** _she said sarcastically. **_Take your time._**

……_fine,_ Logan said, turning his bike back towards the mansion. _I guess I'll do it your way…this time, Frost. This time. _ **__**

That's Ms. Frost to you, Emma thought back, smiling.

**… **

The moment Emma left the school, Julian woke up, his expression quite calm. He sat up, ripped the sedative-feeding drips off his arm, and swept the medical  
staff out of his way with one hand; with the other, he made a fist. Dr. McCoy flew to his fingertips, trying to futilely fight the invisible force.

"Where. Is. Laura?" Julian said, his eyes burning green.

"I don't—" Julian tightened his hold. "NOW."

"Julian!" Dr. McCoy yelled, his glasses sliding down his furry nose. Julian gritted his teeth, reached out with one hand, and twisted the doctor's paw.

"Laura taught me something. She taught me how to get information out of people. I'm an X-man…or I want to be…so I won't kill you. But…" his eyes narrowed.

"…I'm not afraid to hurt you."

Dr. McCoy closed his eyes. "Fine. Julian…I shouldn't tell you this. I'm not afraid of what you are going to do to me…but I think Laura needs you to help her. My  
personal opinion. And you certainly seem to be recovered." He reached up and adjusted his glasses with his free paw. "She's in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Please do  
not tell anyone that I told you this."

Julian continued to watch Dr. McCoy for a moment, then released him.

The explosion rocked the school; the ceiling to the medical lab erupted, as well as the floor above it, as he shot through, like a comet. He burst through five more  
levels of floor and the roof, then he was into the air, leaving a green streak behind him like a jet-trail.

"Oh, my stars and garters," Dr. McCoy said, blinking up at the six holes in the mansion.

A student named Pixie leaned over and waved at him from the third floor, a book in her hand. "Hi Dr. McCoy…was that Julian? Isn't he, like, you know, _dead?_"

"Apparently not," Dr. McCoy called up.

**… **

Laura sat on the edge of the porch, staring out at the calm blue sea, and orange sunset. A few hours had passed, and she'd caught her breath, finding  
herself at a seaside village near nightfall. The beauty of the area had distracted her from her own troubles, and she'd found herself better able to take  
one step at a time. She'd even remembered to eat again, and was vaguely proud of herself. It quickly died when she thought of the babies, and what  
they might be experiencing right now. And of the blood, in the snow, and what it meant to her. She'd need more time to figure it out.


	23. 5: God Given 3:4 we're in this together

**A/N: **And _this_ chapter is named after another great NiN song, 'We're in this together'. I've added a songs page to the helix website, that has lyrics for some of  
the songs posted that go well with these two. AND AND yes /blush some floof may or may not occur in this chapter. Hey...I've earned it! XcD

**SONG CHAPTER: **We're in this together _Nine Inch Nails_

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "God Given" 5 Issue: 3/4 )**

 **Chapter 52: we're in this together **  


* * *

Several days had passed, and Laura was falling into a routine, in an abandoned cottage she had found on the coast.  
Sleep, wake up, sort out a few thoughts while watching the ocean from the porch; eat (food she fetched from town),  
bathe, walk on the beach, thinking. Eat again, beach comb (on the second day, Laura had cleared enough to realize  
she needed a break from sorting memories, and there were some really nice shells here). Eat a third time, bathe, fall  
asleep dealing with memories.

It was becoming slightly easier to function, but it was still almost unbearable. The slightest smell, taste, sensation,  
brought up conflicting memories. And the guilt was still overwhelming.  
**  
… **

"Nothing?"

Emma made a face. "I only get Mexican tourists, drunk on tequila. There's someone vomiting three days' worth of alcohol  
into the hotel toilet four rooms above us. He's wishing someone would kill him. Shall I do the honor?"

Logan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "How can one kid disappear so completely, from four fully-trained super  
heroes—including a _psychic,_ for fuck's sake, and a bloodhound?!"

Logan, Emma, Warren, and Kurt were sitting around a small round table in a Mexican hotel. Each day they'd been out combing  
for Laura, trying to catch her trail. Somehow, she'd disappeared off the face of the earth; completely untraceable by Emma,  
and her scent completely erased by the petroleum fumes on the highway. They'd had to take to the old methods of searching—  
every house, every street possible—with a bit of cheating, Emma trying to monitor the minds around her for trace of Laura,  
Warren flying, and Kurt teleporting.

To no avail. It had been four days now.

"At least the food is good," Kurt said gravely.

"You wanna take over for the Chihuahua at Taco Bell?" Warren asked.

**… **

Julian, too, was doing little better. He'd known Laura would be on the move, but he didn't think she could disappear so completely,  
especially when it now seemed he could move insanely fast. He'd passed a flight test field somewhere near the border, and had  
outstripped some kind of weird thing that said X-43 on the hull. Normally he would have done something dumb like salute the driver,  
but he wasn't in a good mood, so he just left it behind without acknowledging its presence much, like it was a bird he didn't want to hit.

His aim had taken a bit; for the first ten minutes or so of his journey, he'd hit lower-level buildings, even narrowly missed the Statue of Liberty.  
He'd improved after that, increasing his altitude; about three hours later he'd ripped over the border, which was thankfully familiar; he'd had  
exactly five vacations to Mexico, as a teenager.

He'd realized he should pick up a map—and had crash-landed outside a gas station, raising an enormous dust cloud. Apparently he  
needed to refine his landings; it had taken him a while to make sure he hadn't broken anything, but apparently he'd slowed down  
enough and the sand was soft. Didn't mean it didn't hurt, though. He limped to the little store, feeling the exhaustion overtaking him  
now that he was on his feet.

He opened the door, and searched the room, trying not to look too conspicuous.

There was an old man at the counter, reading a newspaper. There was a hearing aid in his ear; probably why Julian's arrival hadn't  
brought him running out to see what kind of alien it was.

Julian picked a map off the stand, then noticed some food, and decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to eat. He'd just burned  
god-knows-how-many-calories, on a stomach that hadn't been fed for days. He didn't want to find Laura, only to faint,  
still in his bloody t-shirt; she'd never recover. Or let him hear the end of it.

He moved to the counter.

The old man set down his paper.

Dusting himself off, he reached in his back pocket for his wallet—and realized it was in his jacket.

Which was on Laura's shoulders.

"Sonuvabitch," he said. He rubbed his grubby face.

The old man eyed his t-shirt. "This a stick-up?" he asked, reaching under the counter.

Julian was strongly reminded of _No Country for Old Men._

"W-what? No…wait, yes…" Julian grabbed the goods and ran as fast as he could to the door, which was not very fast. He just managed  
to raise a weak shield to deflect the shot gun blasts, long enough to make it out the door. He didn't want to destroy the old man's shop,  
on top of everything; and he didn't think he could refine his take-off enough at the moment to avoid doing that. He got a few yards away,  
the old man running after him and waving his gun in the air. His take-off obliterated the old man's Model T in the backyard.

"SORRY!" he yelled as he disappeared into the sky, a twinkling green dot.

**… **

That was the beginning of his problems. Laura was nowhere to be found…it had been days; he was broke and hungry, in a strange country…  
and he kept getting hit on by gay tourists. Then some bum had found him sleeping and had gone AWOL on him, waking him up with a smash  
to his cranium from a garbage can lid and then screaming something about 'his territory'.

It was not a good year for his head.

He tried to think about what Laura might do…she'd head for somewhere calm, right? She was a little too shaken up to frequent the usual scenes  
right now…he'd spent an incredible amount of time trying to think of what was going through her head, at this moment. So he headed for the coast.

**…**

It was the evening of the seventh day of Laura's unplanned vacation when their paths finally crossed. The sun was setting, a particularly nice one,  
amongst a pattern of very nice ones. The sky was orange and red and yellow, on fire; Laura was examining a large Cowrie shell, wondering if she  
should take it with her to the cottage. She turned, for some inexplicable reason, and frowned. What was that green dot in the sky? A comet?

It hurtled towards her, and she jumped back in alarm as it swept down across the water. An enormous spray lifted as it made contact, and when  
the air finally cleared and she had wiped the water out of her eyes, Julian was sitting in front of her, looking very wet and very tired. He was silent,  
watching her with wide eyes. She fingered the shell, not knowing how to react; finally she put the shell down, crashed into the water, and threw  
her arms around his neck, not sure if he was real.

"We're in this together now." he said, looking her in the eye. He frowned. "Understand? Until the very end of me. And until the very end of you."

It would have been cheesy if his voice wasn't so intense, so strained.

"Okay," Laura said. She smiled. "I missed you."

Julian touched her cheek. There was too much to say. So he said everything else. "You got food? I'm fucking starving, and I think I got bitten by a rat  
last night. There are two grumpy old men in this country that want me dead. One has a shotgun, the other a large piece of metal. I think it's a trash  
can lid. Oh yeah, and you have my wallet, beautiful."

"Yes. It's in there." She took his hand and pulled him up; they walked slowly up to the cottage, Julian still limping.

"Are you still…you know…preggos?" he asked. It sounded dumb to ask, but he wanted to make sure.

"Yes," Laura said, looking down. "Julian—"

"Later, please. Tomorrow. Feed me and show me where to lie down, for now." He squeezed her hand. He couldn't think straight. Laura seemed okay.  
And the babies were fine, which had also worried him like crazy. The rest could wait, until he had got some fucking proper sleep. "Okay," she said.

He pulled her against him as they reached the door. "I missed you, too," he mumbled, realizing he hadn't kissed her. So he did—hard. For once,  
she didn't struggle to get away.

**… **

Julian woke up slowly. Everything hurt, every bone in his body was killing him, but Laura was snuggled against his chest, peaceful, and he didn't  
care about the pain. He held her tightly, the problems left unspoken from yesterday troubling him today. Why had Laura run away in the first place?  
She finally woke up, and she looked at him uneasily. "Whatever you have to say, just tell me," he said, calmly.

So she told him. Or showed him. He wasn't really sure; she touched his hand meanwhile, and he heard her voice, but he saw it happen too.

He blinked. "So, basically, I might be like God now, and our kids are Jesus?" he asked, struggling to comprehend the idea.

"…" Laura sat up. "Julian…don't make fun, please."

"Nonono," he said, holding her arm. "Not at all. I'm just…confused. This hasn't been the best time for my head, you know. Between nearly having it cut-open,  
the never-ending hangover, the worry and stress, being _shot_, then getting hit with a piece of metal…I'm sure you can cut me some slack. "

Laura smiled slightly, despite herself.

"Laura…it might have been selfish…but I would have done it," he said slowly. "I don't know what that makes me…but I can't live without you, you know. And…  
how do you know that the Phoenix will hurt them? If it did go in them at all?"

She gazed at him miserably.

"We'll take it, a step at a time," he said, his hand running down to her fingertips. "Like I said…we're in this together. We'll ask Jean for help."

He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it fondly. "Hey…since we're here…" he separated her ring finger and tapped it, grinning.

"…" Laura flushed. "Okay. I guess."

"Really?" he sat up. "I—I didn't bring the ring."

"_The_ ring?" Laura asked suspiciously.

He looked embarrassed. "One night…that Sunday when I got drunk with Josh…well we talked it over…and you remember the argument we had the  
next Wednesday, after Bio class?" It seemed odd to talk about school now.

"Yes, I remember," Laura said. She'd been in a bitchy mood, and he'd told her he was going out for coffee with someone. She'd guessed it was Sofia,  
and argued; it had ended with him slamming the door quite violently. "You were doing that?" She felt bad; she'd been very hard at him.

Wait—hadn't she sitting back-to-back with him, separated by a wall, in a cell in Magneto's base, then? No, wrong memory.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Oh—my jacket." He made a come-hither gesture at the garment lying on the chair across the room; the whole chair  
skidded into the end of the bed, making him jump slightly. "Shit. I'm a bit stronger than I remember."

He picked up the jacket and dug into the pockets, trying to remember where he'd put it. He wasn't the smartest guy in the world,  
and sometimes did things like put valuable objects in his pockets without a box. "Not there," he said, disappointed. "Oh well. Guess  
I'll improvise…I'm no Magneto, but you got anything metal?"

Laura looked around. She picked her choker off the night table and held it up. It had been a gift from Megan, when she'd heard Laura  
was leaving. It contained a picture of her and Laura, during a good time, smiling together. It had been one of Laura's most favored  
possessions, the only thing she had that reminded her of the good times she'd had at home.

Julian took the choker, and held it (well away from her finger). He concentrated on the metal for a moment.

Some of it drew away from the surface, to meet his fingers; it twisted to form a rough circlet. He held it up, trying to smooth it out…  
and blew a hole in the roof with a loud _crunch_—and a squawk. A cloud of feathers drifted in from an unfortunate seagull  
(the source of the noise), and a beam of light illuminated the ring, which had smoothened a bit.

"Uh," he said.

"That is so cheesy," Laura said. "Feathers, a sunbeam, and a ring. What are you trying to say? Just put it on, you idiot."

She wiggled her fingers. He slid it on carefully.

"I'll get you a better one, I promise," he said.

"I like it," Laura said, examining it with curiosity.


	24. 5: God Given 4:4 shotgun

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "God Given" 5 Issue: 4/4 )**

 **Chapter 53: shotgun **  


* * *

The next day, dressed in clean clothes they'd bought with the money Laura had found in her pocket, they headed into town  
on the bike—Laura driving, and Julian hanging on for dear life (he didn't seem to possess the gift of balance required for riding  
a motor cycle, and nearly caused them to crash four times).

They managed to bribe a judge to do a quick ceremony on his lunch break in the courthouse. After this was completed, they had  
a grand total of ten dollars between them; Julian hinted that it might be time to find the X-men.

"Unless the X-men find you first."

Julian and Laura looked up—or rather, down—startled. They'd been descending the steps of the courthouse…and there was  
Emma Frost, her arms folded, with a _very_ annoyed look on her face.

"Mr. Keller…Ms. Kinney…you are both in so much trouble, I don't even know where to start…but a good place would be  
expulsion from the school."

Julian blinked.

"Actually, I'm Mrs. Keller now," Laura grinned, flashing her makeshift ring. "Look, Emma, I beat you to getting married! Are you jealous?"

"Hardly," Emma said. "My congratulations, though, I'm sure."

"I don't think expelling us is your decision to make, Ms. Frost," Julian said, seriously. "Then again…I don't think you _want_ to, do you?  
You might be angry that we did this…but if it was…" He left the sentence unfinished.

Emma shifted. "No. I do not want to expel you. But I am not pleased, either. Come along, Mr. and Mrs.…oh, dear, you have just caused  
us _so_ much paperwork…"

**… **

Laura and Logan stared at each other, in front of the Blackbird.

"I married him," she said, pointing at Julian without looking.

"I didn't say you could, half-pint," Logan growled.

"I was not aware that I needed you permission to live my life," Laura said, still expressionless.

"I think you do." Logan glared at her, his eyes squinting.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Logan…we wanted to do it now…before anything else got in the way," Julian said, joining into the staring contest.

"I think you're a little shit, Keller," Logan sneered.

"I do not _care_ what you think," Laura snapped.

"I thought you were okay with me," Julian said, confused.

"I—yeah, before all this!" Logan snarled.

"I love him!" Laura snarled back.

"I don't think you know what the hell you're talking about." This from Logan.

"I do so! Ask Sarah! Ask _Jean!_" Laura protested.

"I'll take care of her," Julian added.

"I don't care what you think you'll do, Keller! You're weak and you'll break fast! You're just kids! You're not ready for this kind of shit!"

"I am only having his babies," Laura said. "That _you_ failed to prevent. Yes…babies. It is twins, now. Or didn't you know?"

"I'm not going to let you stand between us," Julian growled at Logan. Both the feral mutant's eyebrows arched. He did it pretty well.  
"We're married, and that's it, it's done and there's nothing you can do but be happy for us."

"I—" Logan started.

"Logan," Kurt said, placing his two-fingered hand on his friend's shoulder. "There is no 'I' in team, ja? I zink zey know vat zey are talking about."

Logan's lip curl intensified, but after a moment, he retracted his claws. Laura retracted her claws. Then Julian set everyone down, his eyes clearing.

"Now that you've settled your little family matter, can we go?" Warren called. "I'm late for a business meeting."

"I'll be watching you, Keller," Logan snarled, stabbing his finger in Julian's direction. "ONE bad move! JUST ONE! I'll rip your fucking throat out and  
spread you entrails all over the mansion so no one can put you back together again!!"

"I respect that, sir," Julian said, holding up his hand. "I…I don't think that will be necessary, ever."

Laura raised her eyebrow, silently following her DNA-original into the Blackbird.

"I think he's just upset that he wasn't there to hold a shotgun for the happy event," Julian whispered to her when they sat down.

" I heard that!" Logan snarled.

**… **

"KELLER! What are you doing?" Laura asked, dropping her books and chasing him down the hall. She'd just returned from English class to  
find her—husband (she still had trouble using the word, after a week, and more usually called him the usual, 'Keller'… if she used husband  
at all, it was only to herself)—carrying a train of laundry baskets and boxes full of her possessions.

"What does it look like?" he asked, turning to her with burning green eyes.

"Moving my things. But…"

He raised his eyebrow. "You're staying with me, till that damn house is done. I'm not sleeping separate anymore." He frowned. "And…Laura…  
we're not keeping _quiet_ about this, either. It's not a secret."

Laura shifted. She had refused to allow Julian to announce their new status (threatening him by placing her fist to his crotch under the table  
when he'd almost done it at lunch), just like she had not told anyone she was pregnant…even though she wouldn't be able to hide it much longer.  
Yesterday had been the last day she could fit into her jeans, and had resigned herself to her yoga tights to accommodate the small bulge in her  
waist. "Keller…I…" she took his hand. "I still have to get used to all this. I am…you know me. I am still really confused, admitting I that I do not  
hate you, but…" she smiled a bit. She had this weird reluctance to make it public…something about the memories. But did it really matter now,  
when the facility had caused this anyway? She closed her eyes. "I need time. With…that."

She leaned up and kissed him lightly on his lips; the boxes dropped with a loud _crash_ around them.

"Keller!"

"Sorry," he grinned, rubbing his neck. "All clothes, nothing fragile."

"My clothes _are_ fragile," Laura grumbled, moving back and picking up her English books. "Fine. I will not stop you. Finish your mission.  
I have French in half an hour…take my Loofa to your…room, please."

Julian nodded, making a fist. The entire hallway levitated, including Laura, the boxes, the rug, the coffee table, and a large Ming dynasty vase,  
floating in a sort of anti-gravity field.

"KELLER!" Laura squealed, watching the extremely expensive ornament rotate in horror. She saw another month of detention before her;  
these vases where the Professor's pride and joy, as Jean had mentioned to her once. He actually had had Kurt teleport them out during  
attacks. They had a routine—first the kids, then the vases.

"Oh shit!" he said, looking quite pale himself. "I…I can't put it down. Laura…take it…please…" He tried to float it slowly to her.

"What the hell is wrong with me?! I can't do simple little things anymore!"

Laura wrapped herself around the vase protectively. "Try lowering me now," she said. He let go, and she thumped to the floor.

Then the walls crumbled around them, and several students screamed, unexpectedly exposed.

"Hi," Pixie called, waving at them through the new hole.

**… **

Julian hung his head. He and Laura were again seated in front of their professors—Jean, Scott, Emma, and Logan (in the background). Dr. McCoy was also there.

"I'm sorry?" he tried.

"That was an expensive amount of damage you just caused, Mr. Keller," Scott said gravely. "Thank God the vase didn't break. Why is it that 75 of the school  
damage reports this term seem to focus around you and Miss Kinn—er, Keller?"

"I don't know," Julian said. "Something's a bit different…since I got shot."

Jean leaned forward, her hands braced on Scott's desk. "Yes…yes…I see it. You've been touched by Phoenix."

"WHAT?" Scott stood up. "Keller is the phoenix now? I don't believe you!" He touched the side of his visor.

"Calm down," Emma said, raising her eyebrow. "I don't sense anything fiery and omnipotent in _that_ boy, just his regular telekinetic energy signature…and the normal,  
subconscious desire to see all the women in this room devoid of their clothing."

Laura glared at him and folded her arms.

"She _said_ it was subconscious," Julian pointed out. "I wasn't even thinking it!"

"No…I don't see any phoenix _in_ him," Jean said softly. "The spark has not been kindled. His frontal lobe was pierced by an atomizing bullet that spread itself amongst  
his entire brain. The Phoenix healed him…it drew the bullet from his cerebral tissue…and healed the damage. The lobes re-healed and re-formed, stronger than before."

Scott didn't lower his hand. "Who's the Phoenix here, then?"

Laura lowered her head. "I am." Everyone stared at her, including Julian, although he knew what she meant.

"I…no, that's not the right way to say it. I…" she looked at Jean, and Jean looked at her, and her eyes widened in realization as they traded memories. "In utero," she  
said. "Their children may be Phoenix-incarnates. My God, two at once! I don't believe this has happened before. I still can't sense anything though."

Scott blinked. "I hate to be the one to say it…but doesn't that mean they have to be neutralized?" he asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," Emma said angrily. "They're _babies._ Inside a _child._"

"…" Laura stiffened against her seat, her jaw shaking. She'd just remembered the horrible sensation of giving up her child the first time.

Julian looked just as worried; could the X-men turn on them?

Jean looked thoughtful. "They are fresh. They will not fight the force, and as a result, perhaps it will be easier to control. If they are trained, along with it." Scott sat  
back down, but he still looked tense. "If I _see_ the Phoenix raptor…any sign, any hint of it…she will have to be detained. Or, rather, her children will."

Logan cleared his throat. "Make sure it doesn't happen, Laura."

Laura hung her head.

**…  
**  
"That's bullshit!" Julian fumed, pulling her along by her wrist down the corridor.

"They are right," Laura said gloomily, stopping. "What I saw…Keller…I made a deal with the devil. That is why I was so upset."

"It's not the devil!" Julian said fiercely. "You were there. In the White Hot Room. With me. _I've_ been Phoenix before. Don't you remember?"

Laura held his gaze. Yes, yes she did remember. They hadn't spoke about it, since that night, on the roof. The other life.

"You changed," she said. "It was for such a short time that you did not have a chance to go evil. But you did change. The things I felt…when I did what I did…I cannot  
describe them. It is a force that does not care about life. It did what I wanted because I made a deal with it. We're like ants to it. And it has the power to crush us."

"Were you Phoenix, or just holding it?" Julian asked.

Laura opened her mouth, but took a moment to answer. "I…I don't know. It could have even been…" she touched her stomach. "But I know what I felt. It didn't care,  
it was just completing a business transaction that benefited it." She watched him, and swallowed. "What if they have to die, Julian? What if I—"

"I will never, ever let them touch you, Laura. I fucking swear!" Julian's eyes glowed for a moment. "If they even try…I'll do things to them that they've never  
seen before. I love you, understand?"

"Yes," Laura said.

**… **

"You guys wanna come over for supper again this Saturday?" Beak asked, leaning over during a lab. "I'm making a duck, with raspberry sauce. It will be delicious!  
There will be garlic-mashed-potatoes and stuffing as well."

Laura almost dropped the tube of bacteria she was holding. Julian winced.

"YES," she said. "Will you have cookies again?"

Apparently, Beak was an excellent baker. Julian had on occasion visited him for cookies on Laura's demands (although he'd refused the one time she'd woken him at  
three AM and asked him to bring her some. There had been a fight).

"Of course," Barnell said gravely. "Tito has asked me what his new playmates will be named. I said I do not know for you have not told me! Do you know yet?"

Laura shook her head. "I have not considered names yet. We have been…otherwise occupied with circumstances."

Julian grinned. "I got shot in the head, didn't you hear? I think being resurrected one should be like automatic X-man material."

Beak squawked in what must have been laughter.

"Laura…I noticed you have somewhat cleaned up your language. What has inspired you to use English like the art it is?" he asked suddenly.

Julian glanced at her. He _had_ noticed…Laura was speaking differently. Not all the time, though. It was hard to put a finger on it…it wasn't really that her personality  
had changed. That much, considering what had just happened. He'd put it down to post trauma…but suddenly, he found himself reconsidering. What was going on?

Laura tinkered on with the bacteria, carefully inserting a Q-tip and swabbing it on the slide, oblivious to the sudden scrutiny.


	25. 6: Cause and Effect 1:2 antigravity

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Cause and Effect" 6 Issue: 1/2 )**

 **Chapter 54: anti-gravity **

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

The door opened with a _blam,_ and Julian stood, his cheeks bright red. He was huffing. Laura looked up from her homework, surprised; she'd heard him  
coming, and he'd sounded angry, but to see him was quite different than to merely hear or smell him. And he was quite spectacularly angry.

"Practice didn't go so well?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. She almost smiled, he was kind of cute when he was mad.

"If you _ever_ mention the words 'Danger Room' or 'Dr. McCoy to me…" Julian pointed at her, his finger shaking.

"Easy, tiger," Laura said. "Looks to me like you need to relax…"

"Hrm?" Julian sat down on the bed. "Laura…I don't understand…where'd it go? I had such _good_ control before…I could undo the buttons on a girl's shirt  
with my mind then…and now…I so much as lift a fucking paper clip and I blow a crater in a steel floor."

Laura did smile.

"Fuck you," he said, pulling off his t-shirt. "I've never been so afraid of a little piece of metal in my life. Do you know what it's like to suddenly be terrified of your own _brain?"_

"Yes," she said thoughtfully, chewing on the eraser end of her pencil. "I was really, _really_ baked…this one time with Megan. I took acid, meth, and smoked two joints by myself…"

Julian blinked. "Are you sure your healing covers brain damage?"

Laura grinned. "Sure. It takes a lot to put me out of it. I reserve those festivities for especially strong whims. Ohhhh which reminds me…did you hear about the new one, Kick? I hear—"

"No. Laura." Julian turned pale.

"Relax," she teased. "You twitch so easy."

"Pffft." He threw his shirt at her; she screeched and dove off her chair to avoid it.

"KELLER! So gross…who knows what little bacteria you have crawling around in your armpits? Kindly keep your juice off me, thanks."

"I showered this morning," he sneered.

"Not from the smell of it," she said, pinching her nose and nudging his shirt with a slippered foot. "I smell wet boy. Ewww!"

Julian rolled his eyes. "You're a pregnant woman who already had enhanced senses to begin with…it's like living with someone that has microscopic vision."

"GO SHOWER!" Laura shouted, her voice nasally. "TAKE IT WITH YOU!"

"Oh, fuck, fine, alright, JE-EZ," he said, more than a little annoyed as the shirt floated to his fingertips. "I had quite a workout today, I think it's more than reasonable  
that I had a bit of adrenaline going…that's the smell of manhood, you know. You should appreciate it."

Laura topped his comeback by actually vomiting quite violently into her trashcan.

He blinked, then turned and walked to the bathroom, closing the door meekly.

**… **

"I'm still not hungry," Laura mumbled.

"Just shhh," Julian said, his face a bit red. He'd already been embarrassed enough that day, without Laura starting on him too. He'd cleaned up, then removed the shirt  
(going as far as to hand-wash it and spray some fresh scent crap where it had touched to please Laura—he'd drawn the line at sponge-scrubbing the floor, however).  
He'd then spent half an hour convincing Laura she needed dinner, which was being served in the cafeteria.

They entered the cafeteria, Laura automatically shaking his hand off, only this time she did it a second after they'd walked through the doors (so just about everyone  
in the room noticed them, and it looked like he'd just hit on her and gotten turned down). There were whispers, and laughing.

"Fuck, Laura, can you leave me with a thread of dignity, please?" he hissed.

"Not my fault if you don't have any, Keller," Laura said.

Julian's eyes involuntarily wandered over to the New Mutants table; Sofia was grinning in his direction. Yeah, they must all be curious…this was the first time he and Laura  
had been in the cafeteria since the attack…and none of them were in his classes, so they wouldn't have known that he was back.

"Julian," a very girlish, frilly voice said, down near his elbow. He looked down—it was Sophie Cuckoo. "Are the rumors true? Were you shot in the head?"

"You tell me," he said, suddenly realizing how this could work to his advantage. He tilted his head at her and did his old trick with his eyes. Sophie flushed; her sisters laughed  
at her…Esme waved at him. A little thought of that one time was baited in front of him; he hadn't lied about that.

"I think so," Laura said, peering over his shoulder. "I think the hole's still there, too. What does that say for you…you got shot in the head and walked away?"

"That I'm a God?" he grinned.

"Or there was nothing there to begin with," Laura said.

He raised his eyebrow; interesting, Laura reacted right on cue to his baiting. "Oh, there's something there…ask the Cuckoos," he said, patting Sophie's shoulder.

She smiled, forming dimples…the Cuckoos were hard to keep track of, by turns hating him and telling him to go do rather rude things to himself; and next, as a pack, hunting him.  
Before, he'd leaned more towards Sofia, who at least picked a steady method of disdain. Instability in females was disturbing. Then he'd picked Laura, completely destroying the theory...

"You know, I need help with some of my Chemistry," Sophie suggested. "Would you be interested…Julian?"

"Oh, my god…study group!" Laura said, in fake excitement. "Okay, okay, you bring the brownies…I'll bring the—"

Julian took her firmly by the shoulder and steered her away. "I was going to say milk!" she called back. The Cuckoos stared…they'd probably just figured out what was going on.  
They were smart and telepathic…but Laura had somehow managed to conceal the relationship anyways. It didn't help that she wasn't on psionic radar at the moment, and Julian  
therefore had nothing to prove his thoughts about her were more than fantasies.

"What the fuck was that?" Julian asked her when they were at their table. The others weren't there, being otherwise occupied on a Friday night.

"Yes…what the fuck _was_ that?" Laura responded evenly. "Just being friendly," Julian said. "I'm going to go get the trays. You don't bother moving or anything."

He stood up. Laura watched him go, internally conflicted. She knew that he wanted her to acknowledge him publicly; in a way she agreed with him…it was confusing. She still meant  
everything, what they'd told each other only a week ago still held…but it was hard to change behavior. She was used to casting him off in public, even though a few select people  
knew they were close (mainly, their squad, and a few of the New Mutants, such as Josh and Sofia). Just not how close. It occurred to her now, the knowledge that he might change  
his mind if she was too difficult. Would he? He _did_ care about appearances. She fretted, very unlike herself to do so.

"Oh my god, they had _orange jello. _I am such a happy man right now!" Julian slid into the seat across from her, the trays lowering in front of them carefully. At last moment…_bam_, they  
smacked down on the counter and the gravy splattered everywhere.

"I hope it tastes as good as it feels," Laura said flatly, wiping the liquid out of her eyelashes. "Thanks a lot, asshole."

"Sorry," Julian mumbled. "Here." He leaned over and began to dab at her face with his thumb. Laura grabbed his wrist to stop him, in reflex; he pulled away, hurt.

"Okay, okay, I get it."

They finished the meal in silence—or would have—if the next incident had not occurred, when Julian forgot about his recent telekinetic problems and summoned the salt and pepper;  
suddenly, he found himself levitating all the peas on his plate. "Ummm…" he said, staring up at them as they hovered above the couple's heads.

"Let me guess…you can't put them down," Laura said, watching them. "Can you hold them there until I finish in peace, please? I don't really feel like visiting the infirmary to have peas  
removed from my skin."

Julian watched the peas too, considering making a run for the door; only, he would be followed by the trail of levitating peas. He decided to act like he'd meant for it to happen, and  
twirled them around, in complex patterns. "Oooh, ahh…look," he grinned, forming a heart with them in front of Laura.

"I changed my mind…let them go." She covered her face.

"It could start a food fight," Julian said grimly. "And a possible explosion." The grip he had on the peas had that funny, reactive feeling that had happened when he'd been holding the  
vase a bit earlier; wrong, somehow. Laura's eyes widened between her fingers. Normally, a food fight would mean fun and joy to her…but they were on such a short tether at the school  
already…a little more destruction would (probably) result in their expulsion from classes. They'd both had enough detention in the last term to completely mess up about a year of education.

"Umm…what if you float them down to me and I catch them?" she asked, realizing this was actually a serious situation, and she would more than likely be dragged along with her—husband—  
to Summer's office, if something happened. Julian leaned his cheek against his hand.

"I don't know why…I can pick up things just fine…but when I try to manipulate them…or put them down…" he left the sentence unfinished.

"What if you—"

Julian sat back, alarmed. The salt and pepper shakers had now joined the cloud of peas. He looked nervous. People were starting to look over the backs of their seats. Sofia approached the  
table cautiously. "What are you doing, Julian?" she asked.

"What does it look like?" he said, watching the growing collection of floating objects. Three iPods had joined the mix, and then a hat flew off someone's head.

"I am not sure," Sofia said, craning her neck. "It looks like a face to me…the shakers kind of look like eyes…and the mouth there…"

A few peas suddenly popped, squirting juice inside the telekinetic field. Julian jumped back, and his plate flew up.

"Okay, okay, I admit, I can't put them down! I need help!" he said, sounding panicked. "Someone get a teacher or something! I might pull the whole room in!"

Sofia turned and ran for the doors.

"Calm down," Laura said, leaning over the table and touching his hand. "You're going to make it worse, idiot."

"But…" A chair dumped a student off and was sucked into the cloud. "Oh, shit."

By now, the area around them was clearing; he shook Laura's fingers off. "You'd better go with them," he said, sounding a bit calmer. The ceiling made an odd noise, then a pipe suddenly  
burst out. "I don't want you in that mess, too."

**… **

By the time a few senior X-men had arrived, Julian's involuntary black hole had expanded massively to include shards of glass from the cafeteria windows, bricks from the walls, and pipes  
from the ceiling—as well as objects from the floor above. Jean and Emma finally entered the cafeteria just as some of the chemicals in some of the objects were beginning to react.

"Hi," Julian said, still sitting at the table. "Anyone want to join me?"

"Hmm," Jean said, perching on the opposite bench and gazing up at the field. "This is quite unusual…telekinetics don't usually cause gravity ruptures, just channeled energy. Does the  
connection feel strange to you?"

Julian nodded. The objects shook a bit in response. "Can you make me put them down, please? I'm not comfortable with this."

Jean frowned. "This goes a little beyond just putting them down. You've created a black hole, of sorts…I can stop you from feeding it, though."

She leaned over, touched Julian's forehead; his eyes cleared.

"Wow…" he rubbed his head, suddenly experiencing a tension migraine.

"Laura…it's okay, you can come over here," Jean said. "Why don't you help your husband to your room? He isn't feeling too good at the moment. No wonder…there's so much energy. We'll try  
to take care of this mess. Yes, I know you want your iPod back, Pixie…this is going to take a while, though. Don't worry, I won't allow anything to be destroyed, Victor…"

Jean seemed to be responding to some of the thoughts of the students around her. Laura tried to ignore the other students' stares as she moved over to Julian and put her fingers on his  
shoulders. So it was out. "Come on," she said stiffly.

**… **

"We can only hide in here so long," Julian grumbled into his pillow. "Believe me…I'm just as embarrassed as you are…probably more. I just proved to the entire school that I haven't learned _  
anything_ in the three years I've been here…I won't live this down."

Laura looked up. She'd been resting her head in her arms, on the desk. "Keller…Jean just acknowledged that I _married _you. To everyone. Nothing could compare."

She looked like she wanted to cry.

"You regret it?" he asked sharply.

"…" Laura looked down. "No."

"C'mere," he said, making a finger gesture.

"KELLER!" she yelped as she sailed through the air and was deposited on the bed beside him. "Can you just _not _use your mind for a while? Literally?"

"Sorry," he said. He laid on his back and pulled her up to straddle him, then reached up and touched her chin with his thumb. "I think my brain's excited. Maybe if you distract it…you know,  
excite something else."

Laura sat back with a frustrated expression, her arms folded; he grinned, and his eyes slid half shut. "Yeah, perfect…fuck, I love that you started wearing those tights…"

"I thought you had a migraine," Laura said, her eyes narrowing.

"Best thing _for_ a headache," he said, mock-seriously. "If you don't believe me, look it up…later of course…some scientists…or something…someone…they did…uh…research…thing…huh…"

Eventually he stopped trying to talk.


	26. 6: Cause and Effect 2:2 broken

**A/N: **Poor Julian. He's like a squeaky toy to me. mwahaha...ha... sort of a character building issue. Next arc is more plot based.

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Cause and Effect" 6 Issue: 2/2 )**

 **Chapter 55: broken **

Julian dropped a big stack of books on the table and gave Laura a stern look she did not like. Not one little bit. It was a look that said  
'we have work to do'. She decided that now was a good time to act on the idea of going out she'd had earlier.

"Bye," she said, grabbing her jacket off the chair.

"Fuck _that_," he said, slamming the door shut with his mind before she could reach it—and turning the lock.

"Tomorrow's Field Day Midterm…and you are helping me come up with a strategy for it, miss ma'am."

There was a special field day scheduled: researched strategies. The squad leaders had to present three strategies each, then demonstrate  
them in action as they applied to a situation. Julian had received a list last week, which had been crammed into his pocket, forgotten, and  
then washed with the laundry. He'd had to go back to Emma for a new one (she was distinctly unimpressed with this).

"I don't want to! I didn't _ask_ to be on your stupid squad! I won't do it!" Laura began to storm rebelliously.

"Too bad, 'coz somehow, you became the co-captain," he said, handing her a book. "_You_ can look up Zortega if you're going to be so difficult.  
I think it's under Z, but I'm not exactly sure…it could be under X."

Laura glared daggers at him, popped a claw and stabbed it into the book's center from beneath. "Forget it."

Julian swallowed. "You know, Summers is going to be _really_ upset you did that. He wrote this as a guide for us squad leaders and had it bound  
at his own expense. They're kind of special."

Laura retracted the claw. "Keller! I am _not_ spending my Friday evening reading battle tactics. This is _your_ squad. All I'm good at is spotting  
when your brain shuts down. I hate research with a passion." She put her jacket on. "Me and the twins are going out for fun. Spelled F-U-N.  
Something we haven't done for a while. Good luck with your research-shit."

She turned her back on him and touched the doorknob; immediately she yelped and retracted her hand.

"Huh?" he asked. He'd been glaring down at the book, trying not to act angry and hurt at Laura's lack of care, so he'd missed whatever had  
bothered her _now_.

"Holy fuck! The doorknob's smoking hot!" she said, shaking her fingers.

He glanced up in time to see red blisters fading. They must have been ugly for him to still be able to see them.

"Really?" He put the book down and examined it. He dug into his pocket, withdrew a receipt he had from town, and poked the corner inquisitively  
against the metal. "Oh shit!" he said, yanking it away and blowing out the flame that had risen up.

"What the hell is going on with you?" Laura asked.

"I don't know," he said, staring at the doorknob. "Pretty fucked up, huh? Guess I won't be doing you-know-what for a while."

He grinned apologetically at her; she huffed and folded her arms.

"It's not that great, you know. I _can_ live without it." She sat down on the bed. "Do you _really_ have to read those gay books all night?"

Julian nodded, his eyes wide. "You gonna help me now?"

"Oh, all right. Give me the damn thing." He passed the book to her, not risking setting it on fire on top of the claw marks.

**… **

"That sucked," Julian said bitterly, kicking the muddy ground. The New Mutants had just won the prize, far better prepared; it was that stupid Alleyne.  
Julian hated him; he wasn't sure why. He had no reason except for the fact that he kept beating him at everything, including school. They were in the  
same math class, and Alleyne _always_ had a higher score than Julian.

Laura cuddled her new jacket around herself, looking unconcerned. "Well, they _were_ well prepared. And Sofia's just made for presenting…I can't say  
you're the best public speaker I've ever heard."

Julian had stumbled a bit from exhaustion; besides, half the school hated him for being a jerk. He usually did great (in his opinion at least), but he kept  
seeing the cafeteria incident in the back of his head. It was equivalent to showing up for class bare-ass-naked in his opinion… probably worse, because  
he could laugh off a situation like being naked. No, he'd never, ever laugh at the black hole. Ever.

"Alleyne didn't just stand around looking bored and pretty," Julian grumbled.

"…" Laura raised her eyebrow. "Thank you?"

"It was sarcastic," he clarified. "Pretty as in blond."

"You could have stopped there," Laura pointed out, turning away.

"Guys…please don't fight," Cessily said, looking distressed. The other members of their team were standing with them on the muddy school grounds, in  
the cold late January weather, waiting for Summers to announce the runners up.

"It's what _married_ couples do," Santo grinned.

"Don't remind me, please." Laura kicked the ground herself.

"She's such an asshole!" Julian said angrily.

"Ass-hole?" Sooraya asked, her arms folded tightly against her burqa.

"It means, uh, the butt-hole," Cessily said. "You know what a butt is, right?"

Santo giggled. "Can I start with the anal jokes yet?"

"No," Julian and Cessily answered in unison.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Jules," Brian said. "Not your fault they're ass-kissers."

Laura's eyes widened. "Yeah, don't be so _hard_ on yourself…_Jules_."

Julian scowled, understanding just what she was getting at. "Yeah…my friends have nicknames for me… they have nicknames for _you_, too."

"Julian!" Cessily said. "You can't talk like that to your, uh…"

"You should hear how she talks to _me_," he mumbled.

It started to rain.

**… **

"I want to lie on my back," Laura said. "Move!" She elbowed Julian in the ribs; he sat up and rubbed the back of his head, annoyed.

Laura was just getting more and more impossible to live with, the last few days. Granted, she did now have a bit of a noticeable bulge…it  
might be uncomfortable…but…

"Urf!" He fell off the edge of the bed and scrambled to his knees, pissed off. She was curled in a fetal position…diagonal on the bed, with the covers  
twisted to one side. "Laura…what the hell?" he hissed.

"My back hurts," she whined.

"Well, now mine does, too," he growled, climbing back on the bed.

"Good," Laura said, sounding satisfied.

He laid back down; she yanked the pillow out from under his head and shoved it between her knees.

"LAURA!" he snapped. "Stop being such an asshole!"

"…" She inhaled through her nose sharply. He shouldn't have said anything, he really shouldn't have. He'd just given her cause to go off on him.

"THESE ARE YOURS!" she exclaimed, waving her hands around her stomach. "These—these two demon children are yours! I could do anything I fucking wanted  
to you and nothing would compare!"

"Laura…shut up, okay? I don't want to fight now, I want to sleep…I have exams tom—"

Laura slapped him on the cheek, hard, and it was on, no pulled punches. When it was over they lay quietly, satisfied and too exhausted to complain further.

"Damn…they really are demons," Julian said sleepily, his arm sliding around her waist below the rounded area. She arched her back against his front and proceeded to  
fall asleep…and snore, loudly. Julian didn't care, though; he pulled the covers up over her and pressed his face into her neck, happier than he'd been in days. When he  
woke up the next morning, Laura laughed at him for a while because he'd developed a bad bruise on his neck.

**… **

"Viagra morning?" Santo asked, at breakfast. Everyone had a hard-boiled egg in a steel cup.

"Kinda," Julian said, on his second. "How'd you guess?"

"You've got a good hickey going there. She sucks like a Hoover, huh?" Santo batted his eyes at Laura, who ignored him. She didn't care much for Rockslide;  
he was mostly a big dumb strong guy to her. She didn't talk back to him—she tolerated all of Julian's friends—out of respect to him, as odd as it sounded.

"Is this the part where I'm supposed to defend you?" Julian asked her.

"You can, if you want. I don't really give a damn," Laura said, chewing her pancake slowly. He reached under the table and curled his fingers around hers  
affectionately. When the others were busy discussing the results of the last field day, he kissed her cheek and mouthed "I love you" in her ear. She glanced  
at him quickly, sharply, but before she could retort, Santo cleared his throat.

"Dude, I'm eating. If you could, like, go in the broom closet or something to do that."

"Or you could leave," Julian responded easily.

"Would the food and the table come with me?" Santo asked.

"Santo, shut up," Cessily said, rolling her eyes.

"Laura…you look a bit pudgy, of late," Brian commented. "Should lay off the—OW!"

Cessily flicked him on the forehead, leaving a tiny mark because her fingernails were metal.

"Wow," he said, touching the wound.

"I'm sorry, Laura…they're awful," Cessily said, smiling at the other girl across the table from her. "I hate boys sometimes. I really do. Do you wanna hang out  
sometime? Like…go for coffee or something?"

Laura blinked. "Umm—" she was surprised by the offer; she'd gotten the sense that Cessily didn't care for her all that much. Which made sense, since she had  
been quite unenthusiastic about the team and therefore her company.

"You should," Julian said. "You need more friends here."

"Well, if the mansion's Jewel says so," Laura shrugged.

"Thanks a lot, Brian," Julian hissed. She hadn't let the nickname drop; she'd used it at every possible opportunity since hearing it…in every demeaning manner she  
could think of.

"Don't get it angry," Laura advised. "It might make another Roger."

She nodded to the 'black hole', which was still in the cafeteria. Jean hadn't been able to undo the gravity knot, but she had been able to move it to the corner of the  
room. A few peas and the salt and pepper particles were the only things still left in the knot; anything that got within two feet of its radius was sucked in and suspended,  
unable to move. They'd roped the area off with caution tape, and Dr. McCoy performed experiments on it almost every morning. Laura had named it Roger, for no  
particular reason; and the name had stuck.

"I will do no such thing," Julian said calmly, picking up his plate and getting up. He stood behind Laura for a moment, then bent down and pressed a kiss to her hair;  
she continued eating.

"Wish me luck. Better yet, wish that I beat Alleyne."

"I don't believe in luck," Laura said, wrinkling her nose. "How about, if you fail, I'll disown you? I hear it's the thing to do."

"Thanks. Thanks a lot." Julian pushed the tray into the rack and left the cafeteria, his hands in his pockets.

**… **

"AHHH!" Everyone was slammed backwards on their behinds from the resulting explosion. Laura could feel the danger room rock on its foundations; she blew  
her hair out of her face and looked up. Julian was sliding down from the metal wall, unconscious; it would have been funny to her if she hadn't distinctly have  
heard the sound of his bones breaking on impact. Many bones. She fought a tightness in her throat. Laura scrambled to her feet and ran over to his limp form,  
catching him as he reached the floor. She struggled to support him while keeping him as straight as possible—he was heavy.

"Emma…we need Elixir," she called to the control room. "Vaccarro, I need help! We need to lay him down."

The squad practice had been going smoothly—Julian pulling his weight, Laura supplementing his strategies, himself using his increasing power as a part of the plan,  
and it all worked until he tried to focus on a small object in the danger room—a very small radius bomb that he was supposed to telekinetically disarm (Jean and  
Scott having decided he was ready to move on to such practices). Somehow, he had amplified the explosion, and some other kind of reaction had occurred.

Laura glanced at the still-smoking area, and saw the same kind of strange, distorted globule as had been left in the cafeteria.

The doors hissed open, and Emma ran in. "Elixir is on his way," she said, looking concerned. Not that she didn't care equally for everyone at the school, but  
Hellion was one of her favorite students. "It was very odd. He kept saying 'this is wrong' in his mind, just before it happened."

Santo helped Laura stretch their unresponsive leader out on the floor, trying not to jostle his spine, which had probably been the source of the noise.

"Stupid thing," Laura mumbled, touching his forehead as she crouched by his side and read his pulse with the other hand.  
"I do not think he should be playing with bombs just now…at least till he can handle a paperclip without destroying it."

"Mmhmm," Emma said, stiffly. She, like Laura, had been opposed to the idea of Julian tinkering with bombs at this time. She had been overruled, however;  
Scott had declared that the only thing that would help Hellion was practice, energy release, and pressure to do so.

The doors opened again, and Josh ran in, his eyes wide. "What's he done now?! Keller, you stupid bitch!"

"He's gone and broken most of his spine," Laura said calmly. "I distinctly heard the lumbar and thoracic vertebrae levels snap, possibly a few of the cervical vertebrae.  
Whiplash. His spinal cord is severed in three places, and bruised in others. You will need to heal them, or he will be paralyzed."

Santo blinked. "You heard all that?"

"Yes," Laura said, watching as Josh dropped to his knees and touched Julian's forehead. There was a brief golden glow, then his eyes opened and he began to cough.

Blood leaked out of the sides of his mouth. "—oly fuck!" he finished the sentence he'd begun during the explosion, Laura smiled grimly.

"That was quite an event, Mr. Keller," Emma said, her arms folded. "I think you had better stick with your regular training programs for the moment. We're just lucky that  
no one else was hurt."

"…" Julian closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and swore, quite elaborately as his body began to register the pain.

"I'm sorry," Elixir said. "I fixed the spinal cord, and the bones…well, best I could, not completely…but you're going to be hurting a bit tonight, buddy."

**… **

"Ahhhh…" Julian lay on the bed, moaning, tears of pain running down his face. Laura approached him warily with a glass of water, a few tablets in her hand.  
She felt sorry for him, but didn't really know how to express it. "No body likes a pussy, Keller," she said instead.

He cracked one eye open. "Go…break your back…then talk to me...asshole."

Laura sat down on her side of the king-sized bed as softly as she could. He still hissed in pain. Laura's small standing mirror on the bureau shattered, and a  
painting fell off the wall. She stared at the mirror; it had been a special gift from her mother.

"Here, can you sit up a bit?" She poked his shoulder.

"I fucking have a broken back!"

"Well, je-eez," Laura said. "Fine. I'll take your morphine then and hope it gives me a warm glowy feeling for, like, thirty seconds. If it's good stuff it will."

"…" Julian drew his eyebrows together.

"At least raise your head? You'll choke like that."

Julian frowned. "Can't."

"I could get it as a suppository," Laura said. "As scarring as that experience would be for the both of us, it would be better than sleeping with the English Patient."

"Alright, alright…give me a minute. I hate you."

"I love you, too," Laura said, meaning for it to be sarcastic; but it came out honestly, catching her by surprise. "You scared me today."

Julian opened his eyes, then reached very slowly and painfully with his hand and touched her knee. He gritted his teeth and forced his head up slightly.  
Laura fed him the pills and the water, impressed that he'd stopped sniveling long enough to take them. "Lean down," he told her; she complied, and he kissed her lightly.

"Wow, that took balls," she said sarcastically, as he slowly straightened out.

"Of steel," he said, grinning slightly between facial twitches of pain. "Couldn't have the Shrimps thinking their old man is too whimpy to take his meds."

"Cheese ball," Laura said, patting his hand. "I guess you won't be satisfying me for a while, huh? Shame. I think I'm just about to hit the second trimester."

Julian had been making jokes for a while (ever since he had seized Laura's favorite pregnancy book from her hand and read aloud the summary page on the second  
trimester, which included graphic descriptions of symptoms—the only positive one of which was an increased sexual drive), asking Laura constantly if she was in that  
'magical phase' yet. Then he'd told her she was to inform him when this level-up occurred. He'd also asked her if it would happen like it did in a video game.

He opened his eyes. "No…you're not."

Laura nodded grimly.

"Son of a fucking bitch!" he said. "Get Elixir here. He's going to fix this, _now_."

She grinned. "I hope you heal quickly, Keller. Otherwise me and the Shrimps might be forced to…you know, disown you."

"Will you shut the fuck up about that," Julian said, closing his eyes again. "God, Laura, you're such an asshole."

"Eww, I think it likes me!" she said, ruffling his hair affectionately.

**… **

"Keller, I'm getting sick and tired of repeating every class for you. Take the fucking wheelchair and go yourself," Laura grumbled, slamming her books  
down on the table.

"Do you _know_ how many Xavier jokes I would get?" he asked, glaring at her. "I don't see why you're complaining. You need to make notes anyways,  
and it's great review for you."

"Have you not noticed that I seem to be quoting Professor McCoy directly?" Laura asked after rolling her eyes. "Keller…I have phonographic and  
photographic memory. I get 100% on my exams. I don't _need_ to study outside the classes."

Julian stared at her. "Laura! I asked you to help me before, and you told me your grades were shit! You _know_ I'm not doing well in this course."

"Oh, I know. You're the one, after all, who always tries to share grades with me," Laura grinned. "Failure. Keller, I hate it when people ask me for help…  
just because _I'm_ good, doesn't mean I can make _you_ good. I can't make a dumb brain any smarter. Wouldn't that be a cool power though? Hey, maybe  
one of the Shrimps will get it…" She sat down on the edge of the bed, ignoring his scowl.

"How much longer are you going to be lying around, you useless lump?"

"For fuck's sakes, Laura. I'm actually hurt…you could have a heart. Or is yours made of diamond, like Frost's?"

"At least I have _something _made of diamond," Laura snorted, flashing her makeshift ring.

"That's it. Go for a walk till I'm not mad at you anymore," he snapped. Laura laid her hand on his shoulder; he closed his eyes, suddenly less angry.  
He didn't move as she ran her fingers across his bare chest, although his muscles twitched involuntarily as she touched a ticklish area on his stomach.

"How do you stay in shape, even after three weeks of being a couch potato and eating out of depression?" Laura asked softly.

"I have a high metabolism," Julian said, not opening his eyes. "And I have _not_ been eating out of depression…it's called a 'healthy appetite'. Real men have one,  
and they eat real food."

"Real men eat Peeps?"

The corners of his lips tilted up slightly. "You'd be surprised."

Laura leaned in and kissed him lightly, surprising him. She didn't initiate much; she had only begun to do it regularly, of late. He wondered if she really _was_ getting  
into that second trimester shit.

"You need a shower," Laura whispered against his lips. "You stink like rotten eggs that have hit puberty, Keller."

"Hrumpf," he said, the moment ruined for him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Laura grinned.

**… **

"Why are _you_ in Math 10?" The blue-haired girl asked Laura, pulling out the chair beside her in the otherwise empty classroom. "I thought you were all advanced and shit!"

"Keller broke his back," she answered casually. "I'm taking notes for him." She grinned at Nori's shocked and then disgusted expression.

"Ew. Are the rumors true, then? _I_ didn't believe it…" Nori shuddered.

"Depends on what the rumors are," Laura said calmly.

"I thought it was all based on you guys coming into the cafeteria, holding hands…and figured Keller was just trying to rub his layer of slime on you," Nori continued.  
"Well…the rumor going around is that you _married_ him, but I seriously doubt that. Did you, what, give him a pity fuck or something?"

"No…I did marry him," Laura said, unzipping her pencil case like she was talking about the weather. "Should I use a pink highlighter on his notes?"

Nori slammed her math book down on the table. "WHAT?! You're kidding! You married him?! Laura, you're just a teenager! And he's a slime ball with about a million  
bad qualities! For one, he's so mean to everyone. For another, he pervs on all the female professors! Didn't you hear about Frost's shirt?"

"OHMIGOD, NO!" Laura gasped. "Here, save my seat. I'm going to go divorce him, be right back."

Nori grinned, despite herself. "Seriously…Laura…really, Julian Keller? You could've…"

"Done better?" Laura suggested. Nori bobbed her head in agreement.

"Actually, I don't think I could," Laura said, her tone serious. "He's been there, for me, more than anyone else in the past half year of my life…which would have probably  
driven me insane otherwise. I don't think another guy his age would have stood by me for this." She put her hand on her stomach. Nori's eyes widened. "Holy…"

"It's twins, too," Laura grinned. "It wasn't even his fault. You remember how I told you about that lab thing a while back?"

"Oh my god," Nori said. She sat down. "Laura…I'm so…"

"It's okay. I'd rather they were _his_ than some stranger's," Laura said, drawing a big heart on the cover of Julian's notebook, then writing something in the center.

Nori leaned over and began to laugh. "He'll love _that,_" she said.

"Mhmm. I'm actually excited about the Shrimps. I was initially against them…I felt really violated…but we talked it over…and little by little they've grown on me. Or in me, I guess.  
Here, help me decorate this."

"With pleasure," Nori said. "Wait…I have glitter pens…"

Laura's eyes gleamed.

The door opened, and the boy who had helped Laura home that time Julian had been shot walked in. _Alleyne, _she recalled. She'd already done the detail recording, subconsciously,  
the first time she'd met him, so she only observed his behavior. He seemed serious, no-nonsense, but not overly geeky.

"David," Nori greeted him, grinning and fluttering her eyes at him. Laura detected hormones, increased heart and ventilation rate, and rolled her eyes. Teenagers.

"Hi, Alleyne," Laura said. "I'm filling in for Keller today. What does he normally do? I wouldn't want to deprive the class."

Alleyne blinked.

"Let's see…he usually makes mean comments to David…he tries to be a smart ass…he messes around with his telekinesis, draws things on the chalkboard, and the few times  
we had a female sub teacher—"

"I see," Laura said. "Well…I guess it's time for me to do a bit of damage control." She grinned evilly. "Gather 'round…this may be the one chance you get to hear everything  
embarrassing that Keller does in his sleep…"

**… **

"LAURA!!!" Julian roared a week later, banging the door open. He was halfway through recovery, and leaning heavily on crutches with each step.

"Hello, Jules, darling," Laura said, blinking innocently at him from her study table. Her elbows were resting on her open Biology textbook.

With a shaking hand, Julian lifted his books, leaning on one crutch. Big hearts—in glitter—were drawn all over the covers, with the words '_I love David Alleyne_' and  
'_Julian Keller + David Alleyne 4ever'_, along with a few nasty limericks.

"That's not all," he snarled. "My classmates had some…interesting…stories about me sleeping…that took place from _your_ point of view!"

"Mmm, really?" Laura flipped a page calmly. "Must be a psychic amongst them."

"You fucking wet asshole!"

"There are children present, Keller," Laura said sternly.

"GOD!" Julian slammed the door and threw his crutch down, hobbling to the bed. "You suck, Laura, you really, really, _really_ suck. I wasn't in the mood for this! Why  
the hell would you tell Ashida and Alleyne that I get the beer farts?! And that I'm lactose intolerant?!"

Laura grinned. "I wasn't lying."

Julian sat down and put his head in his hands. "You were so. They made it sound like I had some sort of major gastric problem!"

"I _may_ have elaborated a little," Laura said. "It's hard for me to tell. I can smell a fart before it comes out, you know."

"Ashida called it an atomic explosion! And she said I drooled like an old toothless man in a nursing home!"

"Okay, so maybe I elaborated _a lot_," Laura said. "Still, there was this one time were I thought you made a crack in the wall…"

"God. To think, I could have had _Sofia_…and I gave her up for _you!_ Even Sophie would have been better. Even _Noel!_"

Laura raised her eyebrows. "You're welcome to call it quits, if that's what you want. I'm not about to beg after you."

Julian raised his head. "No. As angry as I am…and believe me, I'm pretty pissed off at you right now…I still love you. It's pretty fucked up, but I admire your nerve. It's  
what attracted me to you in the first place. But if you ever, _ever_ quote me on that…" he pointed his finger at her.

Laura grinned again, and he knew he'd made a mistake that would come back to haunt him.

"I also didn't appreciate you sharing my nicknames with them," he ground out. "Ashida led the balls jokes for the whole fricken three hour class. She even had Alleyne going."

"I like Nori," Laura smiled. "She carries out my dirty work for me…like a minion."

Julian scowled. "I'm going for a shower." He struggled to stand up, then limped to the bathroom without his crutches, his shoulders hunched in anger.

Laura stared at her textbook for a second, then got up and followed him silently. She slipped in when his back was turned; and somehow he did not see her as he closed the door  
(possibly due to the fact that he had to turn his whole body to look at things.

"AHHHH!" he yelled when he turned back—to find Laura standing in front of him. He almost lost his delicate balance, letting go of the counter for a moment in his surprise.

"Jesus Christ! You bitch!"

"Did you just call Jesus a bitch?" Laura asked.

"Shut up. I'm still just as mad at you as I was a few moments ago in the bedroom. Nothing has changed between now and then."

Laura bit her lip, then stepped forward and pressed her cheek to his chest. Julian froze, then wrapped his arms around her—unable, as always—to refuse Laura's small gestures  
of affection. They were different than any sexual advances she made. She was good at _those_—very good—but she was almost shy about displaying affection of any kind, be it  
kissing, or hugging, or cuddling. Inexperienced. It was another intriguing thing about her, and it always made the approaches she _did_ make all the more special.

"Still mad?" she asked a few minutes later. He opened his eyes, his mind had drifted off, his nose in her hair, examining the different scents. Laura used unscented shampoo, so all  
the smells were her own. They were quite pleasant; on a scientific level, Laura's healing factor killed all unnecessary, odor-causing bacteria; on a more emotional level, he didn't  
need to explain it, just enjoy it.

"Not really," he mumbled. "Shower?"

"Okay," Laura said, her fingers reaching for his shirt hem. She rolled it off his torso and shoulders, then pulled it over his head and tossed it at the hamper in the corner. He leaned his  
behind against the counter, to have two hands free, and reached between her breasts for the laces holding her corset-style top closed. She looked a bit fuller than before…and suddenly  
he couldn't move fast enough.


	27. 7: DtRH 1:4 friendly dinosaur

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Down the Rabbit Hole" 7 Issue: 1/4 )**

 **Chapter 56: friendly dinosaur **

"Names, Keller," Laura said after staring at him for a moment during Bio break, her pencil eraser in her mouth.

"Yeah…it's a name…very good, want a cookie?" Julian asked, sneering. Laura continued to stare at him. Then he looked over her shoulder and saw two columns on  
the paper—boy and girl. "Ohh," he said.

"We need four," Laura said. "They have to be good ones. I'm not calling them something dumb like David or James—but I don't want something weird like Barnell, either."

"Hey!" Bohusk squawked in protest.

"No offense," Julian told him, because he knew Laura wasn't going to apologize. "Uhh…you have any ideas?" he didn't really care for activities like baby naming.

Now…codenames…or teams yeah…but babies…boring. Laura stared at him some more, like she was reading his thoughts.

"…I'm really bad at this shit," he said, with an apologetic laugh. "Sorry, Laura…I think you'd better name them. After all, you'll be spending the most time with—OW!"

Laura had suddenly—so suddenly that he hadn't seen it coming—given him a mild purple nurple. "Holy shit! Laura!" He bent over the desk, trying not to show the pain he was in.

"You're going to be spending the same amount of time with them," she hissed. "Don't kid yourself. _You're_ going to be the diaper service, Keller. Every time your kids poop…you will  
run to change them. Understand?"

"Is it too late to decide I don't want them?" Julian groaned, giving in and holding his chest.

"Hrumpf." Laura turned her back to him. "Barnell…do you change _your _babies' diapers?"

"Of course," Bohusk said, making it sound absurd that she'd even asked him. "I have a routine, and use organic cotton diapers and a special bottom cleansing formula. I check them by the hour…"

"See? Keller? Why can't you be more like Bohusk here?" Laura asked, turning back to Julian. "He's the ideal man-chicken."

"I'll work on it," Julian mumbled, glaring at Bohusk, who squawked involuntarily as a part of his breathing. "The feathers might be a bitch, but I'll work on it."

"Ha, ha, ha, so funny," Bohusk said. "Are you guys coming over to sup with us again? Angel enjoys your company, Laura…she speaks very highly of you."

"She's a smart woman," Laura said. "Broke her man to fit the spot. I admire her mentality. We'll be over on Saturday again…if that works for her."

Bohusk nodded, not insulted at all that she hadn't asked if it was okay with him. Julian snorted. "How about me? What if _I _have plans?"

"Guess you won't be coming, then," Laura said lightly. "Good. It's time you realize I'm not your boy toy," he said, trying to assert himself.

**…**

"Foley!" Julian ran after him in the hallway. "You wanna hang out this Saturday? I've got to get away from Laura."

"That sucks," Josh said, turning. "Can't help you, buddy. I've got a date."

Julian stopped short. "Laurie, huh?" It had to be; that was the only girl he knew of that Josh would turn up a night of drinking for. It had been their routine in the old days of trouble,  
which had only been a year ago. Before Laura.

"Yup," Josh said happily. "Ask Santo though or something. I'm sure you'll have no trouble tying up a bit of free time. And there's a party this weekend at the Cloverdale…"

"Really." Julian started smiling again, in partial relief. He was worried that it would already be impossible for him to occupy himself for an evening, but there he was.

**… **

"…" Even in the noise, Julian heard Laura's static silence. It snapped him out of the black void he'd been lulling in, thinking about clouds. He looked up slowly, making the room spin  
because he really _shouldn't _have drunk that enormous bottle despite Santo and Brian egging him on…he'd been trying to show off, probably. He didn't remember now.

"Laura!" he said, surprised. "Aren't you…posed…aren't…dinner?" he couldn't speak properly for some reason. He suddenly noticed he had a bra between his teeth.

"Ohh, phuck." He released the girl… Laura looked mad…no, scratch that…he didn't know what Laura looked like…what? He handed the girl back the bra, relieved that she was still  
wearing her low-cut top...what the hell _had_ he been doing? He couldn't remember beyond a second ago…oh yeah, Laura…he tried to get up, but something was holding him down.

"Julian—where are you—"

He pushed the girl—Sophie—'s fingers away. "No, no," he said firmly, zipping his jeans up. "I'm going."

He ignored her yelling something after him and pushed his way through the amazingly crowded bar after Laura, impressed with his balance. Usually after _that_ much to drink he was wobbling all  
over the place…but he had to fix this before he could pass out. He ran outside, stumbling a little once there was nothing to grab onto, and barely noticed that he didn't have shoes in the  
mid-February snow. "Laura!" he yelled, spotting her at the edge of the parking lot. She was holding her face in her hands, or something. She looked up, startled, then started to run.

"No!" He reached out and grabbed her with his mind, a dangerous move but he didn't really consider the consequences at this moment.

"PUT ME DOWN!" Laura shouted at him. He'd lifted her in the air, not really having much control at the moment; he didn't know if he could put her down, so he pushed himself up to meet her  
and sat, cross-legged, beside her. "…hi," he said, trying to focus on her. "I…I'm a little wasted…"

"Oh really," Laura said, glaring at him. He reached out and touched her face, ignoring her attempts to jerk away—she had tears on her cheeks.

"Get your hands off me!" she hissed, grabbing his wrist and forcing it away. "I don't want to _ever_ see you again. You're a piece of shit and I should've listened to everyone!"

"Laura…" he frowned. "I don't even…where…I don't know where I am right now, okay? I…I don't know why you're…um…mad…can we talk later?"

Laura glared at him, but her initial disgust softened somewhat (to her further disgust). He looked quite lost. "Fine," she said, amazed at herself. "Put us down. You look like you're going to throw up soon."

Julian scooped her into his arms, relieved. Now that she'd mentioned puking, he realized she was right, and the last few minutes, whatever they'd been, had stressed him out quite a bit…and  
vomiting sounded like a good idea. He stopped thinking about something—something important—and they fell, Laura squealing. "Oww." He rubbed his head; thankfully the snow had cushioned their  
fall. Laura sat up, disgruntled. "Julian Keller…you're such an asshole," she said, spitting out snow. He smiled weakly at her.

"Come on…let's go home," Laura said, pulling herself to her feet and then hauling him up. "You have a lot of explaining to do in the morning."

**… **

"God…" Julian wanted to die. He hadn't had such a bad hangover since…the Grand Hangover. He'd woken up in an empty bed, and wasn't sure where Laura was…it was  
Sunday…oh, there she was, she'd entered the room, the door closing firmly behind her.

"So…did we have fun last night?" he asked, grinning weakly.

Laura folded her arms, leaning against the doorframe. "I don't know, did we?" she asked fiercely.

Julian blinked. _Ohh. _"You weren't there…were you?"

"Oh, I was _there_," Laura said. "So was someone else."

"Damn." Julian sat bolt upright as he remembered something. "Laura…Laura, I swear, I don't know how I got there…I don't think about Sophie that way…really…it was so weird…I was having  
some sort of daydream about clouds…there was an elephant…and a giraffe…I wasn't even thinking about sex!"

"Uh huh," Laura said. "You had her bra in your mouth. Looked pretty fun to me. Unless you were somehow connecting the elephants with her boobs…"

"Laura, please believe me," he said. She felt sympathy for him, despite the situation—he looked pale, and his eyes were wide. She inhaled through her nose…and realized that he wasn't lying.

"Okay." Laura moved over to the bed and sat on the edge. She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead. "I can smell you…you're telling the truth. What the hell was going on  
then? I've never heard of people having subconscious sex before…except for wet dreams…"

Julian closed his eyes. Relief flooded his veins…Laura believed him…he couldn't wrap his mind around it. He really _hadn't_ meant to do…that… "Sophie's a telepath," he said, suddenly putting two  
and two together. "Oh, wow. I think she was doing a little tampering."

Laura blinked. "We have to find Emma and Jean then," she said.

**… **

"Ssssophie!" The other four Cuckoos said together from different points of the room, their eyes glowing fiercely. Each sentence they began had a slightly odd sound, the thought taking a fraction  
of a second to reach their mouths. Mindee took .5 seconds, while Esme took .3 seconds; and Celeste took the longest at .7 seconds.

"Nnnnow you've _really_ gone and done it. We don't see what _you_ see in Julian! He's just another disgusting boy, and he's not as good as you think. You were there that once!"

Sophie looked down. "I…I can't help liking him. And I was intoxicated."

"You've drawn attention to us," Esme said, glaring at her sister.

"Nnnnow the telepaths in the school will investigate," the group said in one voice. "Tttthey will tell on us. We can't control them _all_ the time."

"Julian Keller is stupid," Mindee said, from the table. She had a math textbook open. "He thinks so highly of himself."

"So we'll just watch them for a while," Sophie said, ignoring Mindee's comment. "Esme…you know what it's like."

"Kato was different," Esme said, her voice cold. "Sophie, have you learned nothing from our group mistakes? Have you learned _nothing _from boys? What about that Quentin Quire that's always following  
you around, do you like him as well?"

"…" Sophie looked disgusted.

"EEEESME, apologize!" The sisters said together.

"No." Esme turned her back.

"We should just stay away from boys all together," Celeste said softly. "They seem to bring nothing but trouble for us."

"Iiiif the teachers listen to Laura and Julian…we'll just intercept it, for you," the sisters promised Sophie. "Bbbbecause we truly care for you, as our sister; and we care for our mission. But don't do anything  
more with Julian. You mustn't let your feelings get in the way."

Sophie didn't answer.  
**  
… **

Julian and Laura stomped to the Headmaster's office, pushing people out of their way. For his part Julian was ticked off; this was only the second time in his life he'd been violated by a female;  
Laura was furious, for obvious reasons. Laura knocked on the door, then pushed it open. She was about to speak but stopped, uncertain. Scott and Emma were sitting at his desk, opposite each  
other, seemingly unaware of their surroundings.

"…" Julian looked over her shoulder and raised his eyebrow. They certainly looked involved in something, deeply.

"Laura, Julian, what brings you here?" Jean took them by surprise, coming down the hallway, smiling. "I sensed something on your mind…" she trailed off and looked over Laura's shoulder at the  
Headmaster and the teacher. "Excuse me," she said firmly, slipping past Laura and closing the door firmly.

**... **

"She's saying, 'don't tell me, you can explain.' She sounds angry." Laura said, sitting cross-legged a little ways down the hallway with Julian. Curious as cats, they had decided to eavesdrop  
on the situation. It certainly hadn't seemed normal. "Holy. 'I _knew_ I'd find my husband in your head, Emma.' And Scott…'Jean? It's not real…it's just _thoughts_…' wow, I think Scott just had an  
affair with Frost!"

Julian blinked.

"Now she's saying 'Scott, shut up. _You! _You think this is funny?' She's walking towards Emma. 'Well, you have to agree I look rather _good_ in these old rags of yours, dear. But I can think myself  
into something a little more up-to-date if you like.' I wonder if they know they're talking out loud."

"Probably not," Julian said.

"_OUT!_" There was a scream that echoed through the hallway; fire washed under the doorway of the office, and suddenly Scott popped into existence in the hallway, in front of Laura and Julian…  
and the Cuckoos, who were walking towards the Headmaster's office, looking vaguely like an army, holding hands. They'd sensed the attempt to talk to the teachers.

"Yyyyyou looked dazed, Mister Summers." They said together. "Dddddid Miss Frost throw you out of her thoughts? She's _like_ that."

They didn't like Emma too much, apparently.

"JEAN!" Scott yelled, running towards the door and scrambling for the handle. He yelped, releasing it instantly; his fingers looked burned. Julian's eyes widened; it was the same injury he'd seen on  
Laura's fingers before. "Ow…" he held his head, suddenly feeling a weird, throbbing sensation; Laura and the Cuckoos were doing the same thing. It was a kind of powerful hum, like he could feel the  
energy on the other side of the door.

"We have to get this door open!" Scott yelled. "JEAN, open the door!" There were more people coming down the hallway.

Laura turned; two men she'd never seen before in person. The first: bald. Blue eyes. About 86.1825503 kilograms (190 lbs.), 6'0" tall. Mutate; telepathy (she knew from before). _Snff._ Like leather,  
books, and expensive cigars. Professor Xavier. The second: metal skull. Glowing blue eyes. About 95.2543977 kilograms (210 lbs.). 6'2" tall. Mutate: Some sort of energy manipulation. _Snff_. Energy;  
she smelled the clean air produced, like pure oxygen.

"What's happening here, Scott?" Professor Xavier asked. Deep voice, slight English accent.

"I've done something stupid, Professor Xavier…Emma and I did something stupid. And Jean's holding the door closed with her telekinesis."

"I can feel such stress and pain here…like _gravity_ bending space," the skull-man said. "Scott, my friend…how can we help?"

"I don't _need_ any more help, Xorn." Scott spoke to the metal-skulled man, "I asked _Emma_ to help me and…and it turned into some kind of affair. We've been telepathically sharing these  
thoughts…and now Jean's found out."

"Why didn't _you_ have a catfight? I would've paid to see that." Julian mumbled to Laura, who rolled her eyes.

"Be quiet," she told him.

Professor Xavier put his hand on Scott's shoulder. "But it's just thoughts, isn't it? Its…I actually don't know why it feels so wrong…I don't know what's right and wrong anymore…" Scott said, looking down.

"Scott." Xavier looked serious. "Jean is undergoing a radical psychic transformation…this "phoenix potential" she's accessing has reserves of power on a cosmic scale! We cannot risk angering that power!"

"I don't _care_ about the Phoenix!" Scott yelled. "I've had enough of this!" He turned to Julian. "Open the door, Keller!"

"Yessir," Julian said, rolling up his sleeves and making a pulling motion with his hand. He strained, sweat rolling down his forehead. "Holy…shit…she's really got that thing shut tight…"

"Concentrate," Xavier said sternly. "The school may depend on it." He also didn't want to fund another ten thousand dollar construction project.

Laura watched Julian's eyes, her heart freezing over slightly. They weren't completely green—there were tiny, minute trails of black snaking through. The door ripped off it's hinges, along with the  
entire section of wall. The destruction continued down the hallway, each subsequent door tearing off the hinges; and then the floor crumbled. Julian didn't stop; the roof caved in—then Laura put  
her hand on his shoulder. "KELLER!" she shouted.

Jean had whirled around to face them; for a moment she looked like a hawk, her black eyes full of hatred, and Laura thought she would strike. Julian glared back at her; Laura couldn't see _his_ eyes from  
this angle, but she sensed a struggle in the air between them.

"Jean. They're children," Xavier said sternly.

"You're _way_ out of line, Jean," Scott hissed.

"…" Jean concentrated for a moment, flames licking around her eyes, and then the school just…disappeared.  
**  
… **

"Keller? Please tell me that is a _friendly_ dinosaur," Laura said, still pressed against him, looking a little disturbed. Her eyes were trained upwards.

Julian blinked.


	28. 7: DtRH 2:4 you know what you are?

**A/N:** Haha, I hear you...I have a chem exam tomorrow myself...I r scared. Yep, this arc is gonna be interesting! And it paves the way for other plots in the story.

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Down the Rabbit Hole" 7 Issue: 2/4 )**

 **Chapter 57: you know what you are? **

"LAURA! FASTER!" Julian squealed. They'd already established that their powers were missing—again—and that a large raptor of some sort could run faster  
than themselves. They had been running for about ten minutes already, without their hunter giving up; he looked hungry.

"Julian!" she looked back; the raptor snapped at his leg and three teeth caught the back of his calf and raked down, about a half-inch deep.

"ARRGH!" he yelled, falling; and it was about to come back for more, when Laura made a fist.

"Don't get any ideas that I _like_ you or anything," she said, her claws popping. She only winced—it must have hurt terribly—and then she lunged at the raptor,  
like some kind of vicious hunting cat. Slash, slash, _slish_—the predator's head flew off and landed beside Julian, washing over him in a wave of reptile blood.

He coughed and sat up.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

He nodded. " Nothing that'll kill me," he said, examining the leg-wound. It was seeping blood, but he didn't think it was deep enough to cause him serious problems.

" We have to move," Laura said, looking around. "Where there's one, there's more…and we must smell pretty delicious right now."

Julian swallowed. "Shrimps nearly were desert, huh?" he asked.

Laura frowned, retracting one set of claws. The holes stayed open, gushing blood.

"Here..." Julian pulled off his shirt. "You'd better bind your hands. Save some for me. AND AND you should know…that's my favorite shirt, I've had it since forever."

" I'm so touched," Laura said sarcastically. She put the shirt down on a rock, then sliced it into strips. She cut around the Nirvana happy-face logo, then handed it to him;  
he stuffed it in his pocket with a grin.

**… **

" Croikey, mate, that's a big lizard," Julian said. They'd finished binding their wounds, and were now examining the felled raptor.

"I want to be the first to say, _what the fuck? _Where are we?!"

" I don't know," Laura said, her eyes roaming around. "Wait, you remember that simulation Emma ran for us, once?"

" Ohh…" Julian blinked. "Yeah…Savage Lands…oh shit…it's dino country. But…why? Why would Jean send us here?"

" I think you were threatening her," Laura said, frowning. "Keller…I was watching you…when you did that. With the door. Your eyes…they were starting to look like Jean's."

Julian stared. "No way."

Laura looked down. "It took a lot of energy to open that door…if you even noticed, Keller. She was almost completely full-out Phoenix…and you ripped it out of her control, like nothing."

"That wasn't 'nothing' ," Julian started.

" Yes—yes it was. When you started concentrating—Keller, I thought you were going to tear the school down. Then you and Jean just stared at each other for a moment…you know  
what you are?" She put her hand on his chest. "I think it went into _you_."

" That's bullshit." Julian turned away, knowing exactly what she was talking about. When he'd been healed. "So…Jean didn't want to kill us…she sent us away. I wonder if  
Professor Xavier and Professor Summers are here, too? Even if they're not, they'll look for us, right? They _saw_ us disappear."

Laura made a noise, a strange cough. Then..

"Keller...a Shrimp just moved."

**… **

" Laura, stop fidgeting. This is uncomfortable enough already," Julian hissed. They were in the forest, cuddled together under the leaves of an enormous plant.  
He had torn one off the tree to cover them; Laura had found some moss to lie on and they'd made a makeshift bed. It was still lumpy and slightly damp; and  
now Laura was moving like there were ants in her pants. "I think they're fighting in there," she said.

Julian reached around her and curled his fingers on her bulge. It was definitely larger now; at three and a half months, he could tell she was pregnant. And then  
he felt it—something poked the palm of his hand. It felt like a foot kick. He grinned. "Strong," he said, then there was a kick from the other side.

"OW!" Laura sat up. "That hurt. I think it pinched my uterus!"

Julian couldn't help snorting.

"Tell them to stop," she said, glaring at him.

" They don't have ears yet," he said.

" How do _you_ know?" Laura asked. "Surprise! The preggos book is back at home…in the mansion…with our bed and my comfy clothes…"

Julian sighed, and pushed her down gently, running his hands down her front and leaning close to her stomach. "What, should I talk here? Or…"

" I'm not in the mood for that," Laura said sharply, recognizing what he was hinting at. " Just…tell them to stop."

" Knock it the fuck off, Shrimps!" He yelled at her stomach. A bird left the tree somewhere above them. "Mommy's trying to sleep. So is Dad."

Laura cringed. "You didn't have to yell at them. I bet they just peed their pants in there. Way to go, Keller, you're an abusive parent to unborn children!"

"They don't have pants yet," Julian said, kissing her stomach and stretching back out beside her. "That better?"

" Mmm. I think they stopped." Laura closed her eyes, and soon she was asleep. Julian tried to stay awake also, to keep watch; but the events of the day caught up  
with him, and he, too, fell asleep.

**… **

" KELLER! Wake up, you fucktard!" Laura smacked his cheek; he rubbed it and glared at her. "Laura…what the hell," he said.

" You were supposed to keep watch," she hissed. "What if a dino had come eaten me while you were sleeping?"

" I would have high-fived it," Julian grumbled, sitting up. "That would have been one intelligent dinosaur. Would've been doing the world a favor."

Laura glared at him. "I should've let _you_ get eaten, yesterday," she snarled.

" Oh alright, I'm sorry," Julian said. " Laura, I was so fucking tired…the hypothetical dino could've eaten _me_ tonight and I wouldn'tve noticed. Let's just decide what we need to do…"

Still bickering, they picked their way through the woods until they came across a stream of water. They bathed and drank, bickered some more, then decided to head West—their  
simulation had required them to find the X-wing, parked on the shore and they had used the sun's position to find it, without a compass—figuring they would be more visible to  
rescuers on a beach than in a forest. It was hard going, and they often fell silent, the crunch of twigs and swing of bush limbs the only sounds from either.  
**  
… **

" Did you hear that?" Laura asked suddenly, holding up her hand.

" You're the one with enhanced hearing here," Julian mumbled, forgetting about the power situation. __

ROAR. The ground shook.

" Okay, I heard that. Wait—LAURA!" she'd ran into opposite direction; Julian cursed and ran after her, wondering what would happen if they met a dinosaur—and how she could  
run with wounds in her feet from the claws. She led him through a section of thick forest, across a stream—he didn't recognize it as the one from earlier—and into a clearing,  
with wildflowers. There was a giant raptor, shaking its head angrily—and Julian's eyes widened—some people, classmates—New Mutants. Ashida, Alleyne and Sofia were fending it off.

"KELLER!" Ashida yelled, spotting them in the distance. "LAURA, HELP!" Laura ran, her claws sliding through the bindings again. Julian glanced around, picked up a stick, and followed her,  
wondering what _he_ could do, but determined that his pregnant, younger wife wasn't going to be the one to do everything.

Bounding off the ground, Laura leapt towards the back of the raptor. Its tail caught her in midair; she cried out, her claws sweeping through the tip and severing it.

"ARGH!" Julian threw himself headlong and caught her before she hit the ground, terrified that she would get hurt.

"Thanks," she coughed, scrambling to her feet.

"Here, sharpen this," he said, giving her the stick. Ashida was throwing rocks at the raptor, not to much effect, but for the moment it had left off them.

"I used to throw javelin in school. Let's see if I can get it."

Laura lopped at the stick twice, forming a sharp. toothpick-style point; he pressed his finger to the tip. " Good." He turned around, took careful aim—then threw it.

"Oh, well done, Keller! You're good for something, after all," Laura said, grinning. The raptor was making awful noises; the lance had embedded itself quite deeply in its large, dull-yellow eye.  
Laura ran towards it again, ducking its flailing legs, and stabbed her fists deeply into its solar plexus. She turned her hands over and pulled up, gutting the raptor up to its throat; then she  
viciously spread her hands, severing its head.

" Wow," Alleyne said, panting. "Wouldn't want to make _her_ angry."

"I do it all the time," Julian said, watching the raptor fall over. Laura retracted her claws and made her way back to them, covered in blood, but grinning. "That was awesome! Can we do it again?"

" NO," Julian said firmly.

" I can't believe I'm about to say this…" Nori said, "but I'm so glad to see you guys, even Keller. Where are we?"

**… **

Around a campfire (that Alleyne knew how to make), they pieced together what had happened. They decided, finally, that Jean had teleported all the children out of the school so that she  
could fight with the other professors.

"So Santo and the other Hellions are probably here," Julian, concerned. "I hope Cess is okay. I wonder if she's still silver?"

"We haven't seen anyone else here," Alleyne said.

"Do we have a strategy?" Sofia asked. She glanced at Julian; he felt uncomfortable. Even though he'd chosen Laura, some of the initial attraction to Sofia had been left over, and he wasn't  
sure if she knew he'd actually gotten married.

"We ran a simulation in the Danger Room where we had to find the X-wing here," Laura said, noticing this exchange but ignoring it for the moment. "We headed West, towards the beach.  
We should go there now…better visibility."

" Where is _here_?" Nori asked.

" The Savage Lands," Laura said grimly.

The kids were silent for a while.

" Someone has to come find us, eventually," Julian said. " We just have to stay alive long enough for that to happen. In the meantime…let's head to the shore…and look for others on the way."

No one argued.

**… **

" I miss my powers," Nori whined. "I could be to the shore so fast if I had them…"

" Quit whining, Ashida," Julian said. "We _all_ miss our powers. Laura can't heal…and if _I_ could, I would just fly us all home."

Nori glared at him. "You're such a jerk, Keller."

" So I've been told," he said, noticing that Laura was walking beside him now; he reached out and took her hand. She didn't pull away this time. They'd been walking for what seemed like forever;  
the sun was going down, and they couldn't see signs of coast yet.

Alleyne made them another campfire, and said they should eat; Julian realized he was starving, not having eaten for two days.

"You guys should hunt. You're men, that's what men are for," Nori grumbled.

"I don't like killing things!" Alleyne protested.

"God, I'm surrounded by pussies!" Julian said, getting to his feet. "Fine. Do I have to do _everything_ here?"

"We don't know if the raptors are safe to eat. Try to find something small…like a rabbit, or a squirrel," David advised.

" Be careful, Julian," Sofia said.

" I'm going, too. I don't trust Keller to fight his way out of a wet paper bag," Laura said, getting up.

"Nonono, you stay, beautiful," Julian said, the word slipping out. He saw Sofia twitch slightly; he always used to call _her_ that. He felt bad. But he sometimes called Laura that, too.

"Forget it. I'm coming." Laura adjusted her hand bandages. "Let's go."

" Try to find some marsh mellows!" Nori called after them.

They left the little fire-lit group behind, holding a makeshift torch (made from a stick, a piece of the remnants of Julian's shirt, and tree sap found on a massive cedar tree. David had  
apparently been a boy scout as a child—which didn't surprise Julian—and therefore knew a lot of handy survival techniques), and a bundle of spears (Laura had sharpened more sticks,  
and they'd burned the ends in the fire). They'd left them far behind, unable to see even the flicker of the campfire, into a small area surrounded by exotic plants and wildflowers when  
Laura spoke again.

"Julian…" He turned, holding the torch up; she wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him, hard. It caught him by surprise, and he almost dropped the torch; he dropped the spears  
instead and wrapped his arm around her tightly. "I love you," she said softly when she pulled away. "I was so scared when the dino nearly got you, yesterday. I'm sorry I snapped at you  
this morning…I…I'm scared…"

"It's okay," he murmured, touching her chin, then he kissed her again. "I love you, so much, too. You're silly. I forgot you yelled." He kissed her forehead, and her nose, admiring again the  
fact that he _could_, after all they'd been through.

"Put it down," she said softly, nodding to the torch. He raised his eyebrows, then knelt and stabbed it into the soil. When he turned back, he felt his heart squeeze out an extra beat;  
Laura was undoing the last button on her top.

" Well, I guess _they_ can wait," he grinned.

**… **

"Keller! What took you so long?! I'm STARVING!" Nori shouted, as Laura and Julian finally came back into view, dragging some sort of deer creature between them.

"I said small," David said apprehensively.

"Smallest thing around, Alleyne," Julian grinned. He was covered in dirt, and looked sweaty. "It put up quite a fight."

" Mhmm," Laura agreed. She, too, looked disheveled; her hair was a mess, and equally dirty. Her top was also rumpled, and the buttons were mismatched.

"Well, I guess it'll do…I don't think a deer could be poisonous," David said. "Got something sharp?"

Laura popped her claws in response, with only a wince. "Tell me where to cut. I didn't take any wildlife training. Damn shame! This is fun."

Their supper, surprisingly, tasted quite good. They hacked large pieces off the deer, skinned it, then dragged the carcass away again so they wouldn't become targeted by nasty, hungry  
predators during the night. They paired off to sleep around the fire, agreeing to keep watch in shifting pairs. David and Sofia offered to take the first watch, seeing as Nori was exhausted,  
and Julian and Laura had caught supper. Laura moved around the tall fire and sat down. Julian followed, not about to be separated from her because others were watching; he was only  
mildly surprised that Laura didn't resist when he stretched out beside her. " Hold me," she whispered in his ear. He happily complied, wrapping his arm snugly under her breasts.

He was out like a light.


	29. 7: DtRH 3:4 spill the beans

**A/N: **GRRRRRR I hate fanfic. n e t ...for some reason it just _hates_ the formatting on Helix. And only on Helix! Cowpie and Snff upload just fine! What the hell! -.-

Note: I'm uploading a little new sideproject...mOBSCENE. Check it out on the author page...its Helix too.

**

* * *

  
(Volume: 2 Arc: "Down the Rabbit Hole" 7 Issue: 3/4 )**

 **Chapter 58: spill the beans **

"Aww, aren't they cute together," a voice said in Julian's ear. He blinked sleepily, and turned his head. "Santo?" he asked, confused.

Why was Santo in his bedroom? Then he sat up; this wasn't his bedroom. He'd fallen asleep on watch again.

" SANTO! Where the hell are you? I can't see you!"

" I'm here," his friend said. "Something made me drop all my rocks. I can't reform. Where the fuck are we, dude? I've been drunk before but…damn…"

Julian filled him in. "Is Cess here, too?"

A redheaded girl suddenly ran around the fire and threw her arms around his neck.

"JULIAN! Ohmigod! I'm so glad to see you!"

He blinked and pushed her back.

"Wow, you're fleshy!"

" Cool, huh?" Cessily was all smiles—and all human. "I'd be happy if I wasn't all scared! Kevin's here, too."

Julian raised his eyebrow. "And how is he taking this?"

"I dunno," Cess said, sobering up. "All he can think about is where Laurie is."

"Guys can be stupid," Julian said wisely.

Laura opened her eyes and looked up. "Cessily? What's with the skin tones? Oh. Right." She sat up and rubbed her head.

"That's right…rub for me, baby…a little lower," Santo said.

" AHHHH!" Laura jumped. " Oh, god! He's invisible now. BARF."

Julian hugged his knees. "Is Sooraya here?"

" No. I dunno." Cessily sat beside them. " This is scary. We saw a pterodactyl…and I heard a real big thing roaring yesterday."

" You must've popped near us, then," Julian said. " We killed a dino."

" _WE?_" Laura snorted. " It was more ' all me'. Keller just cried like a little girl and let it chew on his leg. He sounded like a squeaky toy. I had to kill it for him."

Julian glowered. "You forget the one I got yesterday?"

" You threw a stick in its eye, from a distance. WOW, I'm impressed! My hero!" Laura clapped her hands over her heart, her voice sugary sweet.

"That's right, bitch." Julian wrapped his arm around her waist affectionately. "So we're heading for the coast…like that scenario Frost had us do. Wonder if she had an  
idea this would happen?"

"Lots of shit happens with the X-men."

"Haha! Watch this…I'm gonna go scare Alleyne shitless…" Santo's voice faded; a few moments later, David (who had been sleeping fitfully) screamed at the top of his  
lungs, Nori (sleeping near) along with him. Sofia woke up, listened for a bit, then spotted Cessily and Kevin and smiled. "It is okay. Stop shouting, David…it's only Rockslide."

" ONLY—" David sputtered, pushing his glasses on.

" It _was_ kinda funny," Nori admitted when she stopped hyperventilating.

**... **

They walked on across the Savage Lands, observing how the temperate rainforest turned to savannah. They spotted weird elephant-mammoth crosses, strange looking antelope—  
and, in the distance, hyenas and saber tooth cats. " Goddamn, big kitties," Julian mumbled. " Hope they don't smell baby tenders."

"I'm not a baby," Santo boomed.

"Uhh, yes you are," Julian said, realizing his mistake.

" Laura…?" Cessily eyed her baby bulge, which wasn't at full swell, but at least visible. " OHMIGOD! You ARE! Ohmigod…when is it coming?! This is so…"

" …awkward," Laura said. The whole group had stopped to stare at her and her telltale stomach. The group situations she hated, yet always seemed to be in the spotlight of.

" Fine. I'm preggos. Big deal. Twins. Married him." She stomped ahead, leaving everyone with their mouths open. Julian ran after her. "Laura! Don't be stupid…you have to stick with us…  
it's dangerous out here!"

" Leave me alone, Keller," Laura said, staring at the ground. "_That_ was just the reaction I wanted to avoid. I don't like being in the center like that. I don't like people asking me questions."

" Laura…" Julian took her hand. " I'm sorry…I didn't mean to say anything. I…I'll tell them not to talk to you about it, okay? I…" he fell silent.

"No," Laura sighed. "I have to deal with it. The Shrimps pinched me when I walked away, just now. I think they're angry that I keep pretending they don't exist."  
She followed Julian back to the group; Nori glanced at Laura sympathetically, understanding her a bit. She'd known before, anyways. Cessily asked Laura more  
questions—" I _love_ babies! When are they due? Have you named them yet? Do you know what they will be? When did you know? Did you plan them?"

Laura laughed at this one. "Oh, yes…I planned to have two kids—at once—with the guy I thought was a shit-ball. I thought it'd be a shame if no one else would touch him and his line wasn't  
continued, so I sacrificed myself for the annoyance of womankind."

Cessily shut up after this, slightly hurt, and Julian rolled his eyes. " Laura, you're not exactly the sweetest piece of cake I've ever met, either."

Sofia was silent, looking at the ground as they walked.

"Haha, they're the spawn of Hellion," Santo said. They could almost hear him grin. " Dude. HELL-SPAWN!"

" Shut up, Santo," Julian said, covering his face with his hand.

" You wouldn't know I was still with you guys, then," Santo retorted.

"Can you kill a bodiless entity?" Laura enquired seriously.

**… **

" This might be a problem," Julian said, staring at the enormous canyon separating them from the other side. "Last time, we had our powers…and this wasn't even _in_ the scenario."

The group stared over the edge. "God, this is so irritating," Nori said, frustrated. "This would be so _easy_. Why don't we have our powers, anyway?"

" Magneto had a power-suppressing device in the Savage Lands, at one point, when the X-men were fighting him here. His acolytes had anti-devices, so he had a distinct advantage,"  
David said, as usual the textbook on X-men history. He'd stood beside Scott and Xavier enough times to have memorized the information. "They had to find a way around this, too…"

"We could…um…climb down…and climb up the other side," Nori said.

"No way! I hate heights!" Kevin said.

" I'm not doing it, either," Cessily protested. "That's awful, and I'm squishy now. Besides…Laura's pregnant, she couldn't do that."

" I can do anything I want, thank you," Laura said. "You say ' pregnant' like it's a disability. Excuse _you_ if you didn't notice me slaying a large dino today."

"She wasn't there, Laura," Julian said. "So yeah, she _is_ excused."

" Well, let's walk around the edge till we either hit the coast or it joins with the other side," Alleyne suggested.

**… **

" Is it getting colder, or is it just me?" Nori asked, shivering. Laura glanced at Julian. "It is. I can see Keller's nipples are standing up on his man boobies."

" I do not have man boobies!" Julian protested. " I'm 100 percent in shape!"

" When you suck it in, yeah," Laura said, patting his stomach. It rippled slightly, and she grinned. "Once you get past the initial disgust of touching him, it's kind of fun. It's like jello. I like to poke it."

" I have _no_ idea why I still talk to you," he said, scowling.

" It's okay. I'm used to you having no ideas." Laura laughed; Nori smiled behind her. She didn't like Keller, at all, but she had to admit that they were a cute couple. And he _had_ toned down  
his jerk-power a bit under Laura's influence. As they walked on, the temperature dropped more; the wind became much harsher; and when snow crunched under their feet, they knew they  
were in trouble. None of them were dressed for cold weather—they didn't even have sweaters (save for Kevin), let alone jackets.

" I'm…I'm getting tired. I w-want to lie down for a b-bit," Nori said, stopping a few hours later.

" We can't," Alleyne said sternly. "Nori, if we stop now…we die, okay?"

" I'm too tired!" She sunk to her knees. " I'm cold, and I'm hungry..."

" We're _all_ cold and hungry," Julian said, hefting Laura. He'd been carrying her a bit, on and off; for the last hour, he hadn't put her down. The lack of a healing factor to cover her  
pregnancy was beginning to catch up to her; and although she hadn't complained yet, he'd picked her up when he'd seen her footprints beginning to leave blood in the snow—through  
her leather boots. He was very worried. He had to get her away soon so she could heal…she looked so tired. _He_ was tired, too—his arms burned from carrying her, but he wasn't about  
to put her down. He was considering asking her to piggyback though.

" David…" Sofia looked scared, her long ponytail whipping in the wind. "This is not working. We have to go back."

" It's too far!" Nori said. Cessily looked pretty far gone too; only Santo was not affected by the dangerous conditions.

"At least there are no dinos here," he offered. Julian rolled his eyes. "I didn't think it was that awesome when you pulled your trick on the T-rex. That thing was mad as hell."

"_I_ laughed," Cessily said, shivering. "At least it went the other way."

" _Are_ we going to die here?" Kevin asked quietly.

" No." Julian was firm. "We're going to keep going…and this weather will change soon. Eventually we have to hit the shore…the island isn't big enough for us not to at some point.  
Guys, I think you have to take turns carrying the girls. Stop being pussies."

" I am alright," Sofia said. " The cold does not bother me as much…I am used to the wind."

"Someone gonna carry _me_?" Santo asked.

" No," Julian said rudely.

They moved on, Alleyne and Kevin helping Nori and Cessily in turns. Finally they reached a rocky area, that was guarded somewhat from the wind. Sofia spotted a cave, and gratefully  
they crowded into it and worked on building fires.

**… **

" Laura…shit…" Julian had unwrapped her feet bandages. The wounds looked angry, although they were not too frost-bitten; she had also blistered.

" Alleyne, I need your t-shirt."

Alleyne peered over his shoulder at the wounds, then, without question, he stripped off his top and handed it to Julian. He tore it apart into uneven strips  
and re-tied the wounds tightly, trying to keep the edges together and cover the blisters.

Laura blinked up at him sleepily. "Did we make it?"

" No, we're just resting," Julian said grimly. "Here. Have some water." He passed her a metal thermos, which Alleyne had been holding when he had been teleported.  
They'd melted snow in it on the fire, and taken turns sipping it.

"I'm afraid to leave here," Nori said, leaning close to the fire.

" We'd just die here, too," Alleyne said, watching Julian work on Laura's hand bandages next. "We have a better chance at survival if we keep moving. We'll need food…and  
we can find _that_ at the shore. It should be warmer, too…"

Sofia was standing at the cave entrance, looking out into the snow. " Do you think the X-men _will_ come for us?" she asked quietly.

It was like she had dropped a bomb.

Everyone was silent.

" If the Phoenix doesn't kill them…then yes," Laura said, surprising Julian. He didn't think she had been listening. "If she does…then no one will know we're out here. No one would  
come _then_." She took Julian's hand and held it to her stomach; he felt it for a second, then smiled slightly at the light kicking against his palm.

"Tickles," he murmured, then stretched out beside her, his hand still on her belly. It was surprisingly entertaining, the random jabs at different areas of his hand; and even,  
occasionally, at his fingertips. Cessily watched them out of the corner of her eye, then glanced at Kevin, who was hugging his knees. She crawled over to him and smiled.

" Hi," she said. " Hi," Kevin said glumly. She took his hand and held it. "Look…I'm all normal here…and so are _you_," she grinned.

" Woo," he answered, looking away. Cessily sighed; turned down again. He was obviously thinking that she was the wrong girl. He'd be _ecstatic_, she was sure, if Laurie was here,  
talking about the power-loss.

" I'll cuddle, Cess," Santo whispered in her ear. " EWWWW gross get away from me!" she yelled, batting at the air.

"Actually, I'm behind you…" Santo cackled as Cessily scrambled to her feet and ran to the other wall.

"Heh," Nori said. "You guys are kind of funny…when you're not being jerks." She grinned at Alleyne, who smiled back. They were all, obviously, thinking the same thing—if they were  
going to die, and this was their last comfortable night…

All except for Sofia, who had no one, now…and Kevin.  
**  
… **

After a long night of huddling together in the cave, Santo woke them up with a loud, rude noise.

" How can you still fake-fart when you don't have a body?" Julian groaned, rubbing his ear. Laura was pressed into his side, her head on his shoulder. He'd wanted to touch her,  
quite badly, last night, but she had looked too out of it. And he'd been too tired. Besides, it wasn't like they had the privacy to do anything.

"Look, Keller has some wood we can use for a fire!" Santo shouted.

" You are _not_ my friend," Julian growled, sitting up. "Dude, why are you even looking down there?! Are you gay, you perv?"

" Nah….just a jerk," Santo replied calmly.

"Haha, Keller, 'got wood?'" Nori grinned.

" I've been sleeping all night beside a hot preggo chick. Of course I do," he said, glaring. "_You_ probably have girl-wood from Alleyne."

Nori's eyes widened. "Don't you _dare_ start! If I had my powers, I would fry your ass right now!"

Laura scowled, her eyes still closed. "Nooo…I'm having a nightmare…about being trapped…in a cave…with a bunch of hormone-crazed teenagers…this must be hell…"

" Hah." Julian rubbed her shoulder. "Laura's right…no arguing. It's stupid."

"WOW. Did I just hear _you_ say that arguing is _stupid_?" Nori blinked and sat up. "What, did you just grow a brain or something?! No no…you must be an alien. The Keller I know would  
_never_ say that."

"I think it's just the fact that I'm facing my own possible death, along with the death of my friends," he said, frowning. "Plus, I can't give you a wedgy with my mind, just now.  
That'll have to wait."

"Keep your brain outta my butt, and we'll be just fine," Nori said.

" Mornin'," Cessily grinned at Kevin. Somehow, they'd ended up sleeping together; he blinked at the redheaded girl groggily.

"Um, hi." He would have thought it was Cessily's doing, but his arm had curled around her waist—distinctly his move. He found himself thinking she was kind of pretty…not as pretty as he  
thought Laurie was but…or not pretty in the same way…he pulled his arm away, confused; and Cessily looked away, hurt.

"BURN!" Santo said in her ear. She jumped. " Holy," she gasped.

" You know, I'm gonna do this _all_ the time at the mansion," Santo said. "I am going to have _so_ much fun. Imagine me getting Frost…"

" She's psychic, Santo…she'll know you're there," Julian pointed out.

"Hrumph. Okay. You _know_ no one will keep a straight face when I catch Cyclops. I swear, I'll make him drop that little clipboard he's always got. I'll do it at the school assembly, you  
watch me."

" Ten bucks says you don't," Julian grinned.

" Keller! Don't bet your whole annual salary!" Laura snapped.

" Oh, god, tell me proposing was just a bad dream," Julian covered his face with his hand. "You're such an embarrassment."

" Just looking out for you," Laura soberly.


	30. 7: DtRH 4:4 god!

**A/N: **Not sure if I advertised it here...but there's also _Snff _on my author's page, getting good reviews (helix). ok lol I admit that was just for you Miss Nunya...  
it's gotten really good reviews already and I think you might enjoy it because I'm enjoying the hell out of it. lol. Wow. XD

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "Down the Rabbit Hole" 7 Issue: 4/4 )**

 **Chapter 59: god! **

* * *

They finally left the cold behind, tramping downhill to a section of jungle. Rainforest jungle. Julian got attacked by a monkey, to his annoyance; Laura and Nori  
wouldn't stop laughing at him, even though the former was in a lot of pain from her wounds.

" It was just recognized a brother…from another mother," Laura cackled.

" Har, har," he said, dabbing at the small cut on his forehead where the monkey had bitten him.

" I will never forget that," Nori giggled. "I think it was your soul mate, Keller."

Alleyne allowed himself a small smile. It _had_ been funny, watching the boy who had made his life at the school miserable for years, run around trying to detach a small,  
screaming, chattering monkey from his head, everyone else too amused to assist him.

" It thought you wanted its banana!" Laura added.

"Banana…" Nori giggled some more, getting the gay innuendo. Julian flushed and looked away. He didn't really enjoy people laughing at him…he was used to it from Laura….but…

"WATER!" Santo bellowed from up ahead. "Not that it matters to me…but yay for you guys! You might live! If you don't, I promise to make sure nothing eats you  
till the X-men come for me."

" Wow, thanks," Julian said, distracted from his embarrassment. He headed towards the direction of Santo's voice. " You're such a good friend, Santo…I ever tell you that?"

" I try," Santo said.  
**  
… **

" This is delicious," Cessily said with enthusiasm. "I haven't eaten for three years! I miss being human." She was holding a fish between her hands, having just pulled it  
off the roasting stick and taken a bite.

"So do I," Santo said from the air above them. "Damn…you made me miss KFC."

" EWWW Santo! Don't you know how cruel they are to their chickens?" Cessily almost dropped the fish.

" Mmmm, cruelty must be the secret ingredient…it's finger lickin' good!"

Julian snorted. "I heard they've genetically modified their chickens to the point they can no longer legally be called by the name ' chicken'," he said. "Apparently, that's why  
they abbreviated the company name."

" That's ridiculous," Alleyne said. "Who would spend billions of dollars genetically cloning chickens in labs, when you can breed them for much cheaper? No offense, Laura."

" Why would I be offended by a discussion about chickens?" she asked indignantly. "You guys needn't treat me like I'm made of eggshells."

Julian touched her shoulder. "Laura…he was just being considerate. Everyone heard about you tearing down Frost's office during the first clone talks…"

" Woah woah," Nori said. "Are you defending David now? Shut up, Keller…you're scaring me. It's like hell froze over."

" I smashed her little unicorn collection," Laura said, grinning dreamily as she thought about trashing Emma's quarters. " And her little china egg thing. Then I broke all her 17th  
century furniture…and shredded that ugly Monet painting on her wall…"

"I'm impressed." Julian rubbed her back. "Have another fish."

" I'm not that hungry," Laura said.

" You're eating for three," he told her sternly. "Eat the goddamn fish and don't mouth off."

"Jeez, okay. No need to go death-camp Nazi about it," Laura said, picking a fish off the spit. They'd managed to catch a whole mess, with a makeshift net that  
Alleyne had known how to make.

**… **

"Holy!" Julian swept at the enormous saber tooth tiger with his stick, trying to provide distraction while Laura crept up behind.

"Hurry! It's going to eat me any second now!" It snapped its teeth closed on the air where just a moment ago, his hand had been; he felt a thrill of fear.

" RRRRrrr!" Laura shouted, ripping her claw up the cat's back. It dropped to the ground instantly, its spinal cord severed. She swung the claws up into its brain,  
and the tips poked out of its eyes.

" Eww!" Cessily buried her face in Kevin's shoulder; they'd been watching from the trees, ready to run if the pair couldn't deal with the attacking cat.

" You're welcome," Laura said, staring at the cat at her feet. "Pelt's mine. I've been wanting a new jacket…Emma will be jealous."

**… **

That night was the most comfortable Julian could remember for the past few days, cuddled under the furry side of the tiger's pelt with Laura. There was enough so  
they could lay the pelt down and wrap it around them, like a sleeping bag. Of fur. Nori had protested at his being allowed to enjoy its heat, but Laura had reminded  
her that it was her decision, as she had killed it to begin with; and that Julian, after all, _had _acted as bait.

With the cover (and the trees) came privacy, and subsequently relief. He'd been watching her grow just about everywhere, and had never been so glad for darkness  
to fall—and the others to fall asleep.

" You can't cut this up…" Julian said sleepily, his arms wrapped around her shoulders. "It's too fucking comfortable."

"Mmm," Laura replied.

**… **

" Oh my god!" Nori was the first to reach the top of the hill; she looked ready to dance. "WE MADE IT!"

" What? Really?" Julian reached the edge too, pulling Laura along. There it was—the shore. He could hardly believe it. His dirt-smeared face broke into a grin.

"Didn't I _tell_ you guys we could do it?"

" Yeah," David said, staring at the waves.

Kevin gazed out at the waves, not sure what to think. Was he happy? Returning home would mean he couldn't touch anyone again, ever.

Cessily, too, was a bit sad. She missed being human.

Sofia and David watched the sea silently, their expressions unreadable.

Julian and Laura were tired, but happy, all smiles. Each had secretly been worrying that the babies would be hurt or even killed (besides worrying for  
themselves) ; and they missed their bed, each having a throbbing back from various circumstances.

Nori looked relieved. She'd thought, several times, that they would all die.

And Santo…couldn't be seen.

" So what now?" Kevin asked after a while.

"We wait for the X-men to find us," Julian said.

**... **

It happened on the evening of their third night on the shore; suddenly, a speck appeared on the horizon. A big speck. Julian scrambled to his feet and ran  
towards it, into the water, up to his knees. The Blackbird finally came close enough to be identified; it swept overhead and landed on the top of the hill.

" Come _on_!" He yelled to the others. They scrambled up the hill, just in time to see Emma descending the stairs, looking relieved.

" Children! We've been worried."

"Miss Frost…I don't think we're really kids anymore," Nori said grimly. Everyone was covered in dirt and clarity.

Emma looked them over. "Ah. Maybe you've all learned some—"

"THIS IS _GOD_, FROST, AND I AM _NOT_ HAPPY!!!"

She stumbled off the staircase, and Santo cackled.

" That was worth $20," Julian said when he stopped laughing.

"I'll pay half," Laura added.

**… **

"Did the other kids go missing too?" David asked seriously.

Emma frowned. "No. Only you eight. We're not entirely sure what happened…"

" Is it over? Did you have to fight Jean?" Julian asked.

She glared at him. "Mr. Keller, first of all, you _will_ address her as Professor Grey-Summers. Secondly, I do not wish to discuss personal matters, as involved as you may have  
been. View it as sufficient that I am retrieving you, therefore there is no Phoenix manifestation."

They flew in silence, when suddenly, several things happened. A pile of rocks on the floor (selected by Santo on the beach, in case he could reassemble himself later) suddenly  
flew together in a familiar, craggy form; Cessily collapsed into a puddle of metal on her seat, then re-formed; and Kevin started, rubbing his wrist.

" Let's see your wounds," Julian said, untying one of Laura's hand bandages. When he'd finished unwrapping it, he found clean, unbroken skin. "Thank god. I was worried."

He helped her remove the rest of her bindings and looked at his own leg, then rebandaged it with the first aid kit on the jet.

"Need to find Foley when I get back," he said.

" And the Cuckoos," Laura said, suddenly remembering what the original purpose of their visit to the Headmaster's office had been.

" What about the Cuckoos?" Emma asked stiffly. They were particular treasures of hers; she prized the Cuckoos above everyone else at the school…even Hellion and now X-23.

Emma's look grew cold as Julian and Laura mentally projected the story to her, not wanting to share it with everyone. Emma's look grew cold.

" I shall have to have a little talk with my girls," she said, sternly. " They've been naughty, it would appear."


	31. 8: A Series of U Events 1:4 engendered

**A/N: **And now for a series of Unfortunate Events for Hellion and X-23, which leads straight into one arc after the other...

Oh yeah, and a long time ago, someone reviewed--I think strayphoenix on the first volume--that Julian and Laura are addicted to sex. Yes, yes they are nymphomaniacs...  
but, most boys between their 17's-30's are unbelievably generated towards the activity...and, in reality, I'm sure Laura would be too, with regenerative powers. Her physiology  
is basically accelerated, and she's in prime health...I'm sure that affects her sex drive too. = good match. XD

I'd like to take a second to talk about their actions, too. I want to call attention to the idea that they didn't _want_ these children--it was a responsibility thrust upon them by  
the H.Y.D.R.A. facility, which they decided to live up to because they didn't have the heart to murder them. And yes, they did get married...but again it was mostly to give  
the children a fair start. They might have still done it without--it would've been **years** away, though. But it doesn't mean they are all grown up--they're trying, but  
they seem to have a streak of bad luck (me) that gets them into all sorts of teenaged problems. So they're not always going to do the smart, sensible thing. They're still  
growing up themselves. Not saying that in response to any reviews...just thought it would be cool to talk a little bit _about_ them and give my ideas about them. They do _alot  
_of crazy, insane stuff. XD

Oh yeah, and I decided to have the Cuckoos speak like ttttthis because then you can tell how many are speaking at once. Count the letters, that's how many are saying it at  
the same time. It's my way of doing the bubbles with little points for each one.

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "A Series of Unfortunate Events" 8 Issue: 1/4 )**

 **Chapter 60: engendered **

* * *

Laura and Julian waited nervously for Dr. McCoy in the lab, trying to make small talk (at least, on Julian's side). He was sitting in a small chair beside the metal  
examination table where Laura lay, stretched out with a wedge pillow elevating her upper body. They had an appointment…to find out the genders of their  
unborn children. For both, it was quite an earth-shaking event; until this moment, they hadn't really been thinking of the babies as _individual children._

Up to this point, the 'babies', ' twins' and 'Shrimps' had only been a few extra pounds for Laura to carry and for Julian to watch expand. They had the occasional  
moment of clarity, when the _things_ kicked inside her, or they considered money—or names—but it hadn't been a clear, defined thing. Like this.

"Umm…so yeah, stuff," Julian said lamely.

" Stuff," Laura mumbled, studying the nails on her hand, which was resting on her stomach. She looked nonchalant.

" What do you think of Summers' idea to have the squads work together?"

" _I'm_ not the one who has a problem with the New Mutants, Keller," Laura said, her tone full of sarcasm. "I like them just fine. Which is pretty weird…considering I  
hate everyone here…including you."

" Pfft," Julian leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "I'd like to retract my sperm, please. Give it back!"

Laura did smile at this. "No refunds," she said.

"Bitch." He studied her; she looked almost frail in the paper hospital gown. He wasn't sure if he liked or hated this effect—but it was different. He was used to Laura looking  
like she was full of feline grace, all sinew and curves, but not fragile like a spider web. She glanced back at him. He, too, looked different; he'd gotten quite a tan in the  
Savage Lands (where apparently there were no seasons); he had a band of minute freckles across his nose and cheeks, making him a bit more similar to his brother James  
(it seemed like forever since she had met the boy).

To her horror, Laura had realized she was intoxicated with his freckles, and could almost fixate on them like he fixated on her tongue stud. She hated anything that suggested  
she found Julian attractive, as it only made him more cocky. It didn't help that he also had freckles on his shoulders.

"Uh, you think that lab report did okay?" Julian asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"If you think a FAIL is 'okay', then yes," Dr. McCoy answered for Laura, opening the door. " Really, Mr. Keller…I don't know _where_ you got the idea that animal cells contain purple,  
pink and blue chlorophyll. You did not seem to grasp the concept of photosynthesis at all…first of all, chlorophyll is _green _and is found only in plant cells…secondly, it does _not_  
produce cotton candy…third, there is _no _organ called the 'snopaloffegus', and in overall…the report was _not_ supposed to be about unicorns. "

Julian glared at Laura, who looked away, her thumbs together.

" I see," Dr. McCoy sighed. "Mr. Keller…kindly resubmit this lab. Under normal circumstances I would have to mark you for plagiarism…but I did have quite a good evening laughing at your  
'report', and I understand that you have been under an extraordinary amount of stress, lately."

"Thanks, sir," Julian said. "Now can you take a look at my ' _extraordinary amount of stress_' on the table there? I hear it's making more."

Laura grinned at him as Dr. McCoy set up the ultrasound unit. "I apologize for my lateness. There was a team situation. We are ever closer on the trail of the Kick dealer."

"Don't worry about it," Julian said.

"Sounded pretty serious."

"It was," Dr. McCoy said, uncoiling the scanning wand. "Any hopes or expectations as to the genders of the children?"

"Girls," Laura said, at the same time Julian said "Boys!"

They glared at each other.

" My, my," Dr. McCoy remarked mildly. "Most new parents say they don't have a preference, and will love the baby for what it is."

" Fuck _that_," Julian said. "I'll disown everyone if she clones herself."

"Not if I disown you first, you little snot!" Laura snapped.

" Children, please." Dr. McCoy dabbed her with the jelly, and she squealed. "AWWR it's cold! Why can't you warm it up first?!"

"It would interfere with the process. Besides, it would take too long." Dr. McCoy tilted the screen as he glided the wand over her stomach. It took a moment for the image to  
come up, then they both stared at the monitor. There they were—two fetal shapes, positioned head to toe.

"I want to call them the 69'ers now," Laura vocalized.

"No thanks, perv," Julian said, leaning on the edge of the table now and peering over her stomach at the screen. "See? That's mine, all right." He grinned, pointing at the  
screen. "Kid might have trouble walking though…won't it have balance issues?"

"That's the leg, Mr. Keller," Dr. McCoy said dryly. "It is, however a boy."

"UGH!" Laura said, at the same time as Julian said "Fist pump! I have an heir!" and made an accompanying motion.

"I refuse to give birth to that thing. Remove it at once!" she said, folding her arms.

"What's the other one?" Julian asked. " It's…it's a girl."

Laura clapped, all smiles. "Oh, YAY! I guess I'll let the boy come out then…but only so I can have the girl. He's screwed if she comes out first."

"You're such a bitch," Julian said.

**… **

Suddenly, 'name the babies' became the only topic that Julian and Laura could think about. This surprised the former, as he hadn't been able to focus on the idea previously;  
now all he _could_ focus on was naming the boy.

"I think we should just give them mutant names," he said, in bed, holding Laura the evening of the next day, on the tiger pelt (which they had indeed kept). "Think of how cool  
'Scion' would be, for the boy. I keep wishing I had taken that myself…"

"Nobody likes a nerd, Keller. Not only would it be stupid, but they won't get powers—if at all—till they are in their preteens. He might end up having a power like Beak's, or that big  
ugly guy that hangs around with Quire—Glob Herman."

"Pfft." Julian rubbed her shoulders. "They _are_ related to me…of course they'll have cool powers." He kissed Laura's neck, admiring the curves.

"They're mine too. I want them to heal so I don't need to worry about them. I hope to god they're not telekinetics…I've had it with you brain people."

"Oh really?" He grinned. "I think you forgot the benefits of it…"

"I don't trust you with that, asshole!" Laura protested, but he'd already started. She fixated on his freckles.

**… **

"Ssssophie, we know what you're thinking…and the answer is NO," the Cuckoos said fiercely, watching their sister's eyes follow Julian Keller across the cafeteria at dinner time. Her head  
hadn't turned but that was besides the point.

"Mmmmiss Frost was already quite displeased with us! We shan't cover again."

"Stay out of my mind!" Sophie snapped, her spoon bouncing in the jello.

"Uuuurgh!" the sisters exclaimed, their eyes sliding shut. "Ssssophie!"

"Sophie!" The Cuckoo looked away as a boy with short-cropped brown hair and square glasses ran up to her, smiling. "You look great today. Did your lab come back?"

"Yes, it did," Sophie said, looking down. "Thank you, Quentin…I'm eating lunch just now, if you don't mind."

"Oh," Quentin said, flushing. "Uh, okay…"

"Gggggo," the sisters said together, their eyes burning especially bright. He turned on his heels and walked back to his table, his expression odd and set, but he sat down without further fuss.

"Are you going to complain further about my decisions?" Sophie asked icily. "You _know _I am the smartest of us. My processing time is .2 seconds!"

"Wwwwe know, sister," the other Cuckoos said, reaching over the table and touching her hand. "Nnnno, we don't mind helping you. But Keller…he is a different matter. We worry."

"I know what I am doing," Sophie said, unblinking.

**…  
**  
Laura watched Quire return to his seat, her eyebrow raised.

"He my competition?" Julian asked in her ear.

"God no," Laura replied. "_You_ don't have competition, Keller. You'd have to be a contestant in the game for that."

"Mhmm."

"Aww, come on guys, I'm eating!" Santo cried. Julian glanced at him, then at Cessily, who had just done something with Kevin, grinning. Wither was slowly coming out of his shell.  
He had been quite a quiet fellow, even knowing that Julian's group would fight for him; he hadn't told anyone about himself, just sat in his long sleeves, gloves and trench coat  
throughout the terms, chewing on his food in a lack-luster manner. He'd been pretty useless in team exercises, too. Only lately had any of that begun to change. He'd definitely  
made an improvement in field days; a lot of experimenting had been done with organic conduits, and Forge (the X-men's major technical expert) had created him a pair of  
techno-organic gloves that responded to his neural commands, somewhat like a prosthetic arm.

On a certain command, these gloves could initiate a molecular reaction that opened 'pores' in the glove surface. They allowed organic materials to flow through the glove's palms  
and fingertips for contact; reversing the command caused the pores to close for safe touching. Julian could see an enormous amount of flaws in the design—mainly the fact that  
if Magneto caught him, they contained enough metal to kill the whole team; however, it was a start, and much more effective than a stick. And Kevin was really happy to have them.

He'd started participating in group conversations more, and then a rumor had floated around that he'd been spotted at Cessily's door, kissing her goodnight, a week ago.

"I smell cheesecake," Laura said, her eyes widening. "Strawberry. It has chocolate drizzle. Keller, FETCH!"

She shoved him off the edge of the bench; he fell on the floor, not expecting the sudden movement. He could hear people laughing as he struggled to sit up.

"Wow, did I miss the 'please'?" he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. Laura glared at him.

He sighed, got to his feet, and headed for the serving area, realizing he had become just as cowed as Barnell. And that he'd be in trouble if the cheesecake wasn't there.

**… **

"Here's your freakin' cheesecake, crazy lady," he said a few minutes later. He jerked his fingers away from the plate as Laura snatched it from him, making a noise that sounded  
vaguely like a snarl.

"Nice _wife_ you got there, Keller," Josh said, carrying a plate of coleslaw by. "There any more of her?"

"Was that a clone joke?!" Laura demanded venomously.

"Umm, no…jee-eez," Josh said, backing away.

"Laura…take it easy," Julian mumbled, rubbing her back.

"_You_ take it easy," she said calmly. "Do you know what it's like to have two other sentient beings inside you that don't understand why they can't have something immediately? Oh,  
and they think my bladder is a squeeze toy. OW!" She put a hand on her stomach. "I keep thinking they're going to look like the things from Alien Vs. Predator…"

"Pfft. Thanks." Julian reached over her shoulder and stole a piece of the cake; she bit his arm.

"OW! What the fuck, Laura?!" He hissed, pulling his arm back and examining the indents. They hadn't pierced the skin, but it _had_ hurt. She grinned at him.

"Okay, I admit…that was all me," she said. "Can't let them have the credit for that one."

"Nasty bitch," Julian grumbled. "Come on, share. I brought it."

Laura turned swiftly—she had to be related to a snake—and smeared the entire cake slice across his face. He coughed. Santo laughed at him.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Someone sitting at the table behind them screamed.

"Fuck! NonoNO!" Laura said, realizing her action had been misinterpreted.

**… **

"The Kellers. Again." Scott rubbed his forehead. "I don't know what to do with you two…really, a food fight? That's so…" Laura and Julian were sitting again in silence before his  
giant oak desk. They were covered, head to foot, in the food that had managed to hit them before Julian could even think about throwing up a shield. It ranged from fruit sauce  
to soup to salad, with the occasional splash of whipped cream.

"I really had nothing to do with this, sir," Julian said, in a small voice. He still had cream cheese smeared in his eyebrows, with crumbs on his eyelashes.

"It _was_ pretty much me," Laura admitted. "I pushed a piece of cake into his face…and someone else saw it."

"Why did Mr. Keller cause the enormous trays of cream puffs to explode, then?" Scott asked grimly.

"Sir, Ashida threw an ear of corn at my head."

"Noriko Ashida is sixteen years old," Scott said firmly. "_You_, however, are approaching your twentieth birthday, lead a team, have a wife, and are about to be a _parent_. I believe you  
should be setting an example. Failing that, at least control yourself, Mr. Keller. It will cost me $5,000 to replace the amount of dinnerware that you destroyed today."

"We're sorry," Laura said. "I…got carried away. I went a little crazy when I smelled all the food…"

Julian closed his eyes. They'd had to drag Laura, kicking and screaming, out of the cafeteria when she'd realized that the cake had gotten involved in the fight. She'd even tried to bite him  
again, and this time she wasn't kidding.

"Scott…as disappointed as I am with these children…I think Laura is telling the truth," Emma said, from where she sat on the edge of the desk. "I can feel her agitation through her neural  
receptors. She's literally just come out of a rage, like Wolverine's…food-induced."

"Good!" Scott said, finally forced against his usual diplomacy into sarcasm. "That's just we needed! A crazy, pregnant, hormone-flooded clone of Wolverine who has a hair-trigger temper that  
is set off by _food_. Between this, and the mythical Kick-dealer that is infiltrating the school from Narnia through the secret wardrobe, I can go home happy now."

Laura looked down.

Wolverine snorted from the back of the room. "I have to say, kid, I'm impressed. The only time I've come close to _that_ was a fight I had with Creed couple years back over a peanut at a bar."

"Be quiet, Logan," Scott said sternly. "Mr. Keller, if I'm right, the sign outside the school says 'Xavier's Institute for_ Higher _Learning', not 'the Clown Academy'. If I let you continue  
attending this school, you're going to have to shape up…you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," Julian said seriously.

Laura blew a raspberry at Scott.

"I'm suspending you both for two weeks," Scott said. "And you're off the team, until further notice."

"WHAT?!" Julian sat bolt upright. "You can't! I swear, I won't do anything wrong again! Not one foot out of line!"

"Off the team," Scott repeated firmly. "Both of you."

Laura tilted her head, examining Emma out of the corner of her eye. She didn't look too concerned; a tiny _snff_ told her that the blond woman had influence over Scott, as they'd slept together  
last night—for real—and that this decision would change quite soon, possibly within twenty-four hours.

"But sir—"

"Be quiet, Keller," she said sharply. "Nobody likes a pussy."

**… **

"Laura! How can you just walk away and let them take everything I worked for away from me?!" Julian demanded, his voice broken. "You destroyed my life! Completely! This cinches it, I have nothing left!"

"Emma's fucking Scott," Laura said calmly and quietly, like she wasn't dropping a bomb shell. "You'll have your spot back tomorrow, if not sooner."

"What—right now?" Julian blinked.

"No, stupid. Tonight. If you had the brain cells to _notice,_ Emma wasn't upset when Scott said that. And I could smell him all over her, like he'd…you don't want to know, trust me."

Laura rolled her eyes at him.

"What about Jean? Where _is_ Jean?" he asked.

"I don't know," Laura said, frowning. "The teachers wouldn't say. I even asked Logan…he buttoned up about it and told me not to poke my nose into places I couldn't see."

"Hah." Julian put his arm around her and leaned his head on her shoulder. "I guess I'll believe you…I'm too tired to think, really. I just want a shower…and my big tiger-fur bed…"

"If I let you in it," Laura said acidly.


	32. 8: A Series of U Events 2:4 warpath

**A/N: **Another chapter! You will also note that **Cowpie II** is up, yay.

**oscar: **_ok, seriusly this is getting rediculus. why does julian keep bending over backards for laura all the time i mean come on get a ** backbone allready!_  
**Answer: **I'm sorry you feel that way. Julian is not really 'bending backwards' for Laura. He loves her, and most of what she does is how he really feels anyways.  
I haven't had him do anything against his ideals. The 'insults' Laura pays him are actually a complicated form of flirting; I've been fortunate enough to be in  
two relationships where me and the guy are like this to each other all the time. 'Thanks, asshole' is the standard method of speech between me and my bf.  
Also, Laura's a bit difficult as per now because of her pregnancy. Pregnant women can be incredible bitches. Julian's allowing for this.

**oscar: **_this is starting to feel like some kind of femenist propaganda which is to bad since i realy enyoed the story until the last cupple of chapters.  
_**Answer: **An interesting interpretation, but no, I'm not a feminist. I believe in equality--but I believe men are just as good as women. I don't write things that  
support one over the other just because of 'gender'. This story is about a relationship, and personalities. Both Julian and Laura are snappy and flirty, while also  
insecure, and they are learning from each other. This is shown by the gradual lessening of their animosity towards others because they balance each other out.

Of course, if the story offends you, by all means don't read it. It's for fun and entertainment--don't read something that makes you feel bad! ;-)

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "A Series of Unfortunate Events" 8 Issue: 2/4 )**

 **Chapter 61: Warpath **

* * *

"My god, Keller, stop sulking," Laura said, slamming her textbook closed. "Get up and _do_ something. Go shower. You could use one, you know. You reek."

"I feel so awful," Julian groaned, ignoring the insult. "I feel like my best friend died or something."

"Pfft. Exaggeration, much?"

"Laura, you have no _idea_ how hard I've worked for that team…my life was empty before I came here! The team was everything to me. I made my friends there….other people,  
who could do stuff like me. I found somewhere I could drain enough energy so I didn't get migraines all the time. I found my place on it."

"Is your life still empty without it?" Laura asked sharply, her eyebrow raised. He considered her.

"No. But…I'll die without some way to release all this energy, I swear!"

"You're such a drama queen, Keller," Laura snapped. "Get a job or something." She grinned at him suddenly. "They didn't take your _powers_ away, you idiot. You can  
take the boy out of the X-men…"

Julian sat up. "No. No no no, Laura, bad idea. Put it away."

"Killjoy Keller," Laura said, jumping onto the bed and bouncing on her knees. "I _wannnnt_! It'll be awesome! And fun! And awesome! You _heard_ them, they can't find  
the dealer…I bet _we_ could!"

Julian hated himself, because a little part of his mind—okay, a big part, to be honest, was agreeing with her. There was a reason he'd picked the Hellions squad over the  
Alpha Squadron…because he was a trouble-maker. Possibly one of the things that had attracted him to Laura in the first place…she made more trouble than his whole  
squad put together. Which he didn't have anymore. Fucking X-men.

"They'd totally make you an X-man if you caught him, Keller."

He frowned. "Who would be on it?"

"You 'n I," she grinned.

"You're pregnant."

"You say 'pregnant' like it's wrong," Laura pouted. She was cute when she pouted. He traced her lower lip with his thumb, distracted.

"Nothing wrong with it. But you're supposed to be all fragile right now. Not the best state to go out fighting in right now. One kick to the kidneys…"

"I don't keep the Shrimps in my kidneys," she said. "Besides, you can't stop me."

"True." Julian laid back against the pillows, holding his chin in thought. "We'll have to be really, _really_ careful not to get caught. How will we sneak out? I'm  
assuming this would all happen at night."

"Keller, are you a mutant or are you not? Even _I_ can crawl all over the roof and walls on this place…and I don't even fly. My fuck, I married an idiot." Laura looked away in disgust.

"Thanks, asshole," Julian said. "Let's talk details?"

**… **

"You're such a nerd," Laura grumbled from his arms. They were currently speeding a few thousand feet in the air over New York, Julian wearing his uniform, and Laura  
in her regular street gear.

"I'm not about to wear a ski mask," Julian hissed back. "I only agreed to this if we're _helping_ people."

"I thought you wanted to beat people up."

"Yes, while finding that dealer!" Julian skidded to a halt, releasing his physical hold on Laura to glare at her in the eyes. "I have energy to work off, yes…but I want to be  
constructive about it. Someone's got to benefit from my efforts. I don't see how robbing a bank has anything to do with that."

"Fine. Let's rob drug dealers," Laura said. "We should check the wharfs."

"LAURA!"

"It's X out here," she teased, sticking her studded tongue out at him.

"Miss X, we are _not_ robbing anyone," Julian lectured, shaking a gloved finger in her face. "We're going to be X-men about this. While we're on this topic…no killing, either. Understand?"

"Look at the pot calling the kettle black," Laura said, squinting right back at him. Neither had truly forgotten what they'd seen each other do during their abduction.

"Yeah. Well." Julian looked down. "Fine. We'll do it _your _way. We'll 'interrogate' them. I still say we should go to the wharves…everything shifty happens there. I had a few great  
Saturdays I didn't tell you about here…"

Julian glared at her firmly. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him slowly.

"Mmmph. I like how it feels up here," she grinned. "I guess the whole costume thing _is_ kind of hot…"

Julian brushed the hair away from her face. "Wanna add a whole new rule to the mile high club?"

"…" Laura's eyes gleamed in the darkness, along with her smile.

**… **

"SURPRISE!" a girl screamed suddenly, dropping out of nowhere cannonball-style on the men just as the product changed hands.

A small metal object clattered to the ground, unnoticed, as the fight commenced. 

_Clang. Clang. CRASH._

"Ughn!" The girl was slammed against a door, her gleaming weapons pinned to the metal. "Julian! I can't—"

"Hellion on the field, babe," the boy in the air reminded her for what seemed like the fifty millionth time, making a fist. "Wow—I can't—"

The mutant who'd been holding Laura looked up at him. Julian caught a flash of metal, then a wave of some kind of energy ripped past him so hard and fast it almost pierced his  
own field. "Shit!" He lost control, an enormous series of bolts leaving his hand and exploding on the ground beneath him; he tumbled through the air, unable to catch himself…  
and crashed into the water. He sputtered to the surface in time to see the man running away into the darkness, his long coat fanning behind him.

Laura stumbled forwards shortly afterwards, released.

"Well…that went well," she panted after running to the edge of the dock and kneeling down to see where her companion had went.

"Mmm." Julian treaded water, then coughed some up. "I thought we agreed…codenames. Why do you suck so bad at them?"

"The endings are alike," Laura said. "Hellion, Julian…same shit, different pile."

"Thanks, asshole." He heaved himself onto the end of the dock and rolled over, dripping water. "Well, did we at least stop them? Where's the thing they were trading?"

Laura held up an inhaler with a grin. It had an X on the front. "Pure Kick," she said. "I'm so tempted."

"Give me that," he snarled, tearing it from her fingers. "Don't you forget for a _second_ that my children are being subjected to your whims as well!"

"And I theirs," Laura said dryly. "What you going to do with it? It's really valuable, you know. I bet…"

"No. We're giving it to Summers," Julian said, annoyed.

"Summers likes Kick? Man, I'd have been so much nicer to him if I had known the clenched butt cheeks thing was just an act…"

Julian got to his feet. "No…we're going to turn it in. The X-men have been _trying_ to find the Kick dealer around here. You heard them…this was your idea."

"How is giving them the inhaler going to help? Keller…we have to get the guy _doing_ this before you hand anything off to the X-men." She snatched the Kick inhaler  
back from him. "I suggest using your brain. There's a word—WAIT FOR IT—it's called 'strategy', and it can be used to your advantage, Mr. X-man wannabe!"

"How the hell have you managed to use all three of my aliases on what was supposed to be codename-only? It's like you're publishing my identity."

"The Complete Idiot's guide called, they want to take you out of their 'How to be a Super Hero' book. You're giving them a bad name." Laura grinned and fiddled with the black  
throat of his uniform. "Had your collar tucked in."

Julian raised his eyebrows at her. "Thanks, _mom_," he said.  
**  
… **

It was midnight when they decided to call it a day. Laura and Julian had busted three transactions (Laura finding that Kick had a very distinctive odor, even inside the inhaler;  
she'd tried to persuade Julian to allow her a whiff for the purpose of locating the inhalers, to no avail). They were all minor, though; nothing the X-men hadn't covered already.  
They tried interrogating their victims, Laura's at claw point and Julian's from the air, but the pyramid that had been constructed was too airtight for them to crack. To Julian's  
dismay (and Laura's amusement), neither was reinstated to the Hellions, and there were rumors about who the new captains should be.

Julian showed his disappointment by ruthlessly dragging Laura out every night for adventuring and clue-hunting. The week went on like this, with the couple appearing more and  
more tired each day (for lack of sleep). They'd often stayed out late, finding the transactions occurred later than earlier at night. Julian frequently fell asleep in Biology, and relied  
on Laura to take notes for them both.  
**  
… **

"I fell off my seat in Math today," Julian fumed, throwing his books on the floor and then himself headlong on the bed, the door slamming shut behind him. "Laura! I'm so fucking tired  
of these god-damn unreasonable hours. I can't handle them when I have to do school, too. I just want to be on the team again!"

He rubbed his face; his eyes were glowing green, something that happened when he was angry.

"I thought this was about helping people," Laura said, studying the nails she'd painted black that evening. Blood was such a bitch to get out from nail beds once it had dried…besides,  
she liked the look.

Julian sighed. His eyes dimmed a bit. "Yeah, you're right. I'm being a bitch. I'd probably be out there even if I _was_ on the team…you know me."

"That does not sound like the Julian Keller I know. The one _I_ know, my husband, prefers lying in bed, sulking, moaning, and avoiding showers till I tell him I would rather be trapped in an  
elevator containing a person with an atomic gastric disorder than endure his scent any longer."

"Laura, you suck," Julian said, but he grinned. "Telling me I need a shower right now?"

"No, you're okay."

"Watch it…that's almost a compliment," Julian said, craning his head back to see her. He reached out and pulled her on top of him without warning. "My lil bloodhound. Only circumstance  
I'll say this…but I can't wait till you pop your litter and your sniffer goes back to normal. It's driving me crazy." He kissed her belly, which was just above him. "Suit up?"

"Do you want a nap first, Mr. Grumpy-pants? I'd hate to have to be around you if you get more tired than this."

"Nah, I'm fine." Julian reached to the closet and opened it mentally. "I can't believe you can still fit in that thing of yours with _twins_. Do you like, suck them into your butt or something?"

"It's my special mutant power," Laura said. "KELLER!"

All of their uniform equipment had suddenly hurtled towards them, like a small comet of clothing. "Ow…yes, it's time to wash these," Julian grumbled, getting a faceful of his top.

"Okay, fine, I'll wash it, have a nap while it cycles, and _then_ we'll go. I'm not eager to be known as the X-man 'Smelly'."

"It would make our relationship all the more forbidden," Laura whispered. "It just wasn't meant to be. X-23, the clone with an incredibly enhanced olfactory organ…and Smelly…the  
boy who—" Julian stuffed his uniform in her face.

**… **

"Laura. Breathe, damnit!" Julian sat with Laura on the edge of the bathtub, his hand on her back, trying to calm her down. She was still shaking from his earlier action; he hadn't  
meant for it, but somehow the armpit of his top had brushed her nose. Through a combination of his having worn it for a week (through fights, bleeding and getting submerged in  
saltwater) and Laura's hair-trigger nose (another combination, of her powers and pregnancy), she had gone into some sort of sensory overload.

She'd stopped breathing for about a minute, and he'd almost thought about calling a teacher for help when she started gasping for air again.

"Keller…you're…a sick…fuck," Laura groaned, then her eyes widened. "GO! WASH THAT THING! I CAN SMELL IT!"

She pinched her nose and pushed him off the edge of the tub; rolling his eyes, Julian grabbed the entire mess off the bed and exited the room, slamming the door behind him.

Of course Ashida was right outside the door, happening to be passing at that moment.

"Laundry, Keller? _Really?_ Oh my god, you're doing Laura's too!" She laughed.

"Shut up," Julian growled.

"Wait….why are you washing your _uniforms?_ Last I heard, you got kicked off the squad for that food fight…" she seemed genuinely curious.

"None of your fucking business. Scoot along, Ashida, and I won't make you."

"That a challenge?" Nori glared at him.

"_Teenagers_." Julian put emphasis on the word, rolling his eyes; he was turning twenty in a little under two months, and since Summers had brought it up, he had begun to rub it  
into the younger kids at the mansion. That much closer to the age of enlightenment.

"Don't fool yourself, Keller! You're no more grown up than the rest of us! And _we've_ all had to grow up early…you're more like the youngest, when it comes to personal development," she sneered.

Julian flipped her the bird and shoved her rudely out of the way.

"Yeah, real mature! You haven't changed _at all!_" Nori shouted, clenching her fists. "I still want to know why you're washing your uniforms! KELLER!"

He'd disappeared down the hallway, leaving a sock behind.

Laura opened the door, her eyebrows arched. Nori blinked; she looked like she'd just been sick. She was very pale.

"What the hell is going on here?" Nori asked.

"We've been going out," Laura said.

"Out?"

"To find the Kick dealer," Laura added. "The person who's been selling death-in-a-inhaler to kids on campus."

Nori's eyes widened. "Wha—"

"Shh, you can't tell anyone. They'd try to stop us. But we're doing pretty good…at least it keeps Keller busy, and exercised. You'd be surprised at how quickly he can turn into a  
couch potato…and he whines. The good-looking ones _always_ have a rotten personality."

Nori grinned. "Did you just say he was good looking?"

"No, I didn't explicitly say that," Laura said, realizing her error. "Keller's a fugly bitch. I've asked him to put a bag over his head when we're in public. Or, you know, alone. He keeps  
taking it off though…got an attitude, that one does."

**… **

"Nothing like the smell of freshly laundered hero gear," Julian said, tossing Laura her top. He sat down backwards on the chair, resting his elbows on the top  
while she held it, glaring at him.

" C' mon, get started…world to save, and all that shit," he said.

"I just figured out _why_ you want to be an X-man so bad," Laura hissed.

Julian grinned. "That too, beautiful. More of a bonus…" He reached out and ran a finger down her front, then curled it under the hem of her t-shirt. A few minutes  
later they were both outfitted, and Julian had his foot out the window, ready to pick up Laura and take off…when there was a knock on the door.

She frowned at him, then turned and moved to the door.

"Laura—" he tried to remind her that she was still in her uniform, to no use. But she opened the door anyway—and he was quite surprised. There was a small group of  
their classmates and opposing squad waiting there, also in uniform; a few New Mutants, a few Hellions.

Sofia, Alleyne, Ashida, Foley, Cessily, Santo and Kevin.

"We heard what you're doing…and we want to help," Ashida said confidently.

Julian withdrew his leg from the window. "Who says I'll let you come, minors?"

" Don't be a wet asshole, Keller," Laura said, arching her eyebrows at him. "Remember how you let that guy get away from you? I think what you were lacking  
is firepower. Here it is."

" Did you _tell _them about this?" Julian hissed at her.

" No," Laura said evenly.

" How do they know, then?!"

"Hello, we're standing _right here_," Ashida said. " We're coming, like it or not. We're hoping you'll help us get there—if not, Sofia will do it…but we want to quit this whole stupid  
squad rivalry thing and work together…like we did in the Savage Lands. Maybe it _is_ time for us to grow up."

Julian tilted his head. "I'm in charge," he said. "And Laura's my second. If we let you come, you listen to _us._ Understand?"

"Wha—" Ashida said. Sofia placed a hand on her forearm. "We understand. We hope that you will be fair, though, and listen to our opinions."

Laura folded her arms. "That goes for me too, Keller. Except if you piss me off…guess what you're not getting for a month. That's right."

Julian scowled. "Okay, then. First team vote—she's not second-in-command anymore. Agreed?"

" Fuck you," Laura said.

**… **

_Crash._ Chaos everywhere. Nine teenagers with shielding, and a healer, in case anyone got hurt. And an underground Kick den.

" Who do you work for?" Laura asked coldly, seizing the establishment's owner almost the second after she had come through the gaping hole in the floor-slash-ceiling. It  
was a short, ugly, shiny creature that appeared to be changing colors—and then form. It changed from unfamiliar personas to known ones, trying to escape from her grip.  
She grabbed in the air above its body and twisted savagely with her hand at where she knew was a tentacle (although she couldn't see it). It screamed.

" Who do you work for?" Her face betrayed no emotion.

" I…I! I don't!...please…pain…" Laura twisted harder.

"ARRGH! I don't! It…I gets it from a guy! I'm my own boss!" Laura's eyes narrowed. "I believe you." She slashed through the air above its head; the creature's eyes rolled up  
and it fell to the floor, a splatter of some strange green fluid seeping in a ring around it (invisible in the middle). There were several dull thuds around it where the tentacles  
had struck the floor.

"X!" Julian flung himself at her and knocked her over as some sort of explosion occurred from a mushroom-shaped mutant that Nori and Cessily were fighting (Cessily had  
momentarily expanded to protect Nori from the green light).

" Could've just…shielded me," Laura grumbled, sitting up. He grinned. "That was more fun, though," he said.

"Wanna…come help us?" Nori yelled at him, her hands full of a stalk-like arm.

" Not really," Julian replied, but his eyes glowed, and the mushroom was lifted off the floor and twisted in the air. "Might wanna tell us what you know, or your slimy boyfriend  
here gets to spend the rest of his life as a pretzel," he said to the weird girl with triple ears and a droopy nose who had been cuddling the mushroom when they had burst in.

"She doesn't speak English!" the mushroom shouted.

" Too bad for you then," Julian said, applying pressure to his stalk. "Ahhh! I swear, we were just here for the kick…we don't deal…BE REASONABLE!" His head cap began to cave in.

" Hellion…" Laura put her hand on his arm. They were still on the floor, curled against each other from the blast. "I can smell him…weird as he is, he's telling the truth. He's just  
a pathetic addict."

Julian let the mushroom drop. The mutant grabbed his girlfriend's hand and they ran out the door.

"Guys, I think the only one here with any info was the one that Laura had," he called. David and Josh looked up from the jellyfish they were punching; Santo dropped the unconscious  
frog-like mutant. " Slimy," he grinned.

" Isn't that…" Nori began, recognizing him from a simulation.

" Toad," Julian finished. "Brotherhood! This is starting to get interesting. How about we take him somewhere a bit more comfortable for our questions?" He scooped Laura in one arm,  
using his other to direct his power. He floated them up through the hole in the floor and to the second story, Toad in tow.

**… **

They didn't see a panel in the back of the room slide open, however, as a dark-skinned woman with flashing white eyes stepped out. They rolled around the room to be  
sure, then her skin rippled, turning blue, and her blond hair turned bright red. She crept along the floor, picked up a cell phone lying there, and dialed a number she'd  
memorized by heart. " It wasn't isolated," she murmured. "You were correct. Hellion and a girl named X are on the warpath. And now they brought friends."


	33. 8: A series of U Events 3:4 five by five

**A/N: **Did you get my review reply, Laura K. Howlett? I'm not sure if the fanfic thing is working properly. If not, I'll paste it here next chapter.

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "A Series of Unfortunate Events" 8 Issue: 3/4 )**

** Chapter 62: five by five **

* * *

Toad blinked at the fuzzy figures in front of him. He'd been-no pun intended-hopped up on Kick; he'd been feeling quite fine, when these little turds  
came and laid waste to his hangout. His fists tightened.

"Who sold it to you?!" a boy was yelling at him, holding an inhaler in one hand. He was-aw, fuck-he was wearing an X-men uniform. He didn't recognize  
him though-he looked young, and inexperienced. He was shaking his index finger in his face, not shielding himself. Toad vaguely remembered seeing a big  
energy field around him a few minutes ago. Or was it an hour?

_PHLLLPT! _He retched, and an enormous wad of green goop flew out of his mouth and hit the boy in the face, coating it completely, and solidifying on  
impact. Toad was already making his escape while the boy made a muffled noise; his molecules rushing with Kick, he leapt over a two-story building at  
an incredible speed before anyone could react. Behind him, a dark-haired girl was running to the boy's side.

**...**

"KELLER! Stop yelling! Your oxygen will run out faster!" Laura said, placing a hand on Julian's shoulder. His eyes were wide; he truly hadn't seen it  
coming. He wanted to vomit himself but _that_ would just make things worse.

"We have to get it off him!" Cessily said, panicking. "What if Kevin-"

"No," Laura said firmly. "No offense-Kevin-but I don't fancy maintaining Keller if his face has rotted off. He's difficult enough already. Since Josh is here..."

Elixir pulled off his gloves. "I know, I know...organic compound..." he touched the mess, and suddenly it peeled off his friend's face.

Julian coughed, hard, his face red.

"Thanks," he managed after about a minute. "Find him! He can't be that far away."  
**  
...**

The search, however, turned out to be fruitless, and Julian flew a bummed-out team back to the mansion. Once over the wall and on the grounds, he  
set them down, and transported each person to their respective room. All went as planned, with no teachers or other staff the wiser.

**...**

"George."

"Vito."

"Jack."

"Vito."

"Graham."

"Vito."

"Murphy."

"_Vito._"

"Uhh...Aaron?"

"Vito."

"Vito?"

"Very funny." Laura tapped her pencil on the paper. "Come on, Keller...the brain-thing. The TK can't be using _all_ the room you have up there, my god."

Julian wrinkled his nose at her. It was Saturday, and they were lying on their stomachs (Laura more on her side) on the bed, composing a list of possible child names.  
They'd agreed that each twin would receive two names, as was traditional; so far they'd agreed on Christopher for the boy's middle name, and Anne for the girl; they  
could not, however, decide on the first names-the names that would be used the most.

"Eric?" Julian suggested.

"Vito. I am not having my child named after a villain, thank you."

"Pfft. I wasn't even thinking of Magneto. Max?"

"Eww, vito."

"Laura!"

"I like that," she said. "Laura junior for the girl?"

"You suck. I am _not_ even going to touch on how awkward that could be."

"Oh, all right. "

"Nathan?"

Laura arched her eyebrows. "Hmm. Not bad." She scribbled it down on the tiny list, which so far only consisted of one name that they didn't feel too keenly about.

"What's the short version of that?"

"Nate," Julian said. "You've never heard that name before?"

"I have...the kid just never used it. He went by Two-Second Joe. Sometimes we called him Twosies."

"..." Julian rubbed his face. "I don't want to know."

"Mmhmm," Laura agreed. "I still want to call him Willard."

"And _I_ still say 'fuck no'. That was a creepy movie." Julian ran his hand over her shoulder, bringing down the strap of her tank top. He leaned closer and kissed the  
structure; she flushed slightly. "I told you, beautiful...I'm not really concerned about the boy's name. As long as I don't hate it, it's your choice."

"Hmm." Laura looked at the "girl" column. "This is no fair! Most new parents only have to pick two names. We have to pick _four_. This sucks." Julian had submitted  
the name 'Rachel' for the girl, taking her by surprise; he'd seemed unconcerned about her in proportion to his interest in the boy. Then she'd remembered his sister,  
and it had all made sense. She was close to giving in...but she wanted to annoy him for as long as possible about it.

"Isobel?"

"Ugh, no," Julian said. "Rachel."

"I hate that name!" Laura said. "Sooo generic. Ugh."

"Like 'Laura' isn't."

"I didn't pick my own name," Laura said. "If _I _had a choice, I'd be named Bambalina, or something cool like that."

"Pfft." Julian took her hand in his, studying it. "Instead you're plain old Laura Margaret. Oh, wow, I just realized I could legally call you Marge!"

"I _will_ kill you if you try that," Laura hissed. "And I'll call you 'Pattycakes' in public."

Julian's eyes widened. How had she hit on his old playground nickname? When he'd been six, before the money had flowed in, he'd gone to a regular school-and gotten  
bullied, regularly (when he had gotten rich he had become a bully himself, but then was different). His teacher in art class had made the mistake of saying his complete  
name out loud to the class; afterwards, he couldn't cross the playground to the swings without hearing 'Pattycakes' hissed after him. This was (of course) in addition  
to all the testicle jokes associated with his other nickname.

Laura grinned at his expression, and he felt genuine fear. He knew she'd do it, too. "Sadistic bitch!" he said helplessly.

She laughed.

"Okay. So we've got Nathan or Bristol for a first name, and Christopher for the second...for the boy...and Rachel, Marian or Aimee for a first, and Anne for the  
second, for the girl. Draw straws?"

"Rachel," Julian said firmly.

"Maybe we should wait till they're born, and we can see their personalities a bit."

"Fuck that. I need to be able to scold them right away," Julian said. "It won't be as effective if I'm scolding 'blank'.'"

Laura grinned at him again. "Fine. Convince me why I should allow you to name our offspring 'Rachel'. I'm listening. You have ten seconds-GO!"

"It would mean a lot to me. And it makes lots of cool nicknames-Rae, Rach, Chel...I used to call my sister Cello sometimes. She had a nice voice." There it was, his sister...  
he'd never spoken about her before. She watched him carefully, noting his body language. She hadn't questioned him on what his mother had accused him of...killing his  
sister...because she could smell the lie. But it had made her curious as to just what _had_ happened.

"Were you and your sister close?" Laura asked.

"Hell yes," he said, his eyes far away. "She's the reason I didn't _need_ to come here before. She...she had the same powers than me...she was stronger though, and much  
better at control than I was, at first. She showed me how to use them." He grinned at Laura. "She had red hair, like mom. Weirdest thing...red is a recessive gene, as you  
probably _know_, Miss Gene Expert. And dad has a dominant trait...black hair. Yet Rachel got mom's hair."

"Weird," Laura said, thinking that her hair probably had a mutation linked to it.

"She died. It was an accident...with her own powers," Julian looked uncomfortable. "She was actually trying to save me. We were doing crazy shit all the time...we'd go  
flying over the estate. She was the heir back then...she was casual about it...constantly ticked our parents off. They put her under a lot of pressure...I didn't have to  
mind my P's and Q's so much as I did after that-until you and yours." He ran his thumb over her fingers. "I bit off more than I could chew once...and I used my powers  
in a place I shouldn't have...the pool electrical room. Rachel was there...she saw it start to ignite and I would have been electrocuted-she panicked and pushed me  
out...I guess she forgot that she had powers too. Anyways, a couple thousand volts later, I got to stare at my sister's fried body. I didn't eat for a while. I got into some  
bad stuff, took a bit to straighten out."

Laura tilted her head. "Why'd you use your powers in there?"

"I can't remember all that clearly. Something was wrong, I think...it looked dangerous. And it was. Afterwards, it was like a blank space to me. I remembered things  
around that time but not the actual memory, only seeing her die and thinking it was my fault."

"Could your parents have done something?" Laura bristled. It would certainly fit in with Mr. and Mrs. Keller's behavior.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...maybe it was a set-up? You said she ticked your parents off. Maybe they..."

"I dunno. I don't like thinking about it much." Julian's tone was sharp. "It's in the past now. What matters to me is I wasn't going to let them do it again...put us  
under pressure, I mean."

"Mmm." Laura didn't add that he had almost done just that.

**...**

Thursday morning. Julian looked up from his math book, startled. Ashida had just plopped onto the chair beside him, an expectant look on her face. "Keller," she said in  
acknowledgment-a surprise. She'd never been polite to him before.

For the most part, Julian Keller wasn't a jerk just for the fun of it (although that was often his main point). People were usually rude to him first, and he couldn't help  
being defensive and volatile. It was just the way of things. He was also a bit insecure about some areas in his life, and therefore he tended to overcompensate on his  
stronger points. For example, he subconsciously made up for the fact that he was nearly failing math by declaring aloud that he was the most powerful mutant in the  
class-and that was the whole reason they were going to this school, right? He just couldn't wrap his powerful brain around the freaking algebra problems. And he  
hated watching Ashida and Alleyne whiz through it with no extra work; when Ashida had teased him about his poor grades, she'd sparked a rivalry-slash-feud to  
last...well, since they'd first spoken.

Therefore, he picked on _their_ weak points.

Team-wise, he was pretty good. He'd been put in a position of power, and it was surprising that he didn't feel the urge to abuse this too much. Sure, he was mean to  
the other squads-particularly the New Mutants, which Alleyne and Ashida were on. It was the best point to pick on them about-their powers, because he _was_ more  
powerful in a physical sense than either of them. And of course that made up for the freaking algebra.

It also had the helpful side effect of making _his_ team work harder, to back up his claims. Julian was friends with everyone on his squad; they were the people who had  
failed with him, and who hadn't bristled at _him_ to compensate for _their_ own shortcomings about something. Therefore, his team was completely loyal to him. They  
worked hard to back up his wild claims that they were the best in the school, and they _had_ become the best.

Then Laura Kinney had arrived at the school and his world had pretty much changed in every aspect. Not only had she (at first) drained him completely of all acidic  
comments, demanded his full attention and energy, as well as shown him how stupid it was to act insecure (he'd begun to realize he was only drawing attention to  
_his_ weak points); she'd also, one evening, glanced over his shoulder at the sheet of freaking algebra problems he was working on, and noted the pockmarked paper,  
hinting that he'd worked on them a million times already.

"You idiot," she'd said, and in under a minute, had enlightened him on exactly what he was doing wrong. Three fucking years of math (he'd failed math 9 once and  
subsequently redone it before moving onto 10) had suddenly come to light.

He had decided _that_ was the defining point of change, because there was too much else. He'd stopped thinking about Sofia (another unsolvable problem, created by  
his whole insecurities thing-she'd already _made_ a first impression), and had started paying attention to Laura. He'd been abducted with her, and fought with her,  
and been lost without her...he'd accepted the fact that they were having kids he didn't want through no fault of their own-yes, plural-he'd swallowed the fact  
that his family didn't want him anymore. He'd even fucking died and come back because of her. _And_ had given up his regular teenaged boy pervert routine,  
forgotten the drunk promise he'd made with Josh one time to never get married-and did just that.

No, he still considered the math problems to be the turning point.

A lot of changes had come as consequences of their situations. He felt he was becoming more rounded as a person (he felt calmer, he didn't feel the need to blow up the  
school every time a little thing went wrong, he didn't say something mean to someone the instant it occurred to him; he let Laura do that). This led to a domino chain of  
effects-he was improving slowly at school, he'd been able to share his team with Laura-he'd even been kicked _off_ the team (through unfortunate incidents that weren't  
entirely his fault), and he hadn't thrown any tantrums over this (something that still impressed him).

And now...Ashida was speaking to him, and if he wasn't mistaken, she was treating him like a human instead of a tool. How odd.

"Ashida," he said back, flipping a page in the textbook.

"We still going out tonight?" she whispered.

He glanced at her. Ashida's eyes sparkled-he could tell she loved going out 'teaming' as much as he did. And as much as Laura did. The combined squads had gone out  
three nights in a row already. It was like a drug-there were no Professors to yell at them if they thought something was out of line-it was all up to them.

He nodded. "I wanna check out the building to the South." They'd been at the docks again last night, and had spotted a creepy looking building at the southern end;  
unfortunately, it had been 2 AM by that time. It was a five minute flight back to the mansion at full speed, but it took about twenty minutes to sneak everyone back  
in, then an hour for bed...and most people had 8 AM classes. They'd agreed to 'save' the building for the next evening.

"Mmm," Ashida said. "I just _know_ he's in there."

The door opened and Alleyne came in, his packsack hanging from one strap. His eyes found Ashida, he smiled reluctantly back at her-then he looked at Julian, who  
stiffened. How was he supposed to react? Instinct told him to snap something mean at the Algebra King, but-

"Keller," Alleyne said warily.

"Alleyne." Julian's toes curled. Normally around now he'd be asking if the reason Alleyne always wore glasses was that they didn't _make_ contact lenses that were an inch  
thick, but that hardly seemed appropriate. He wished Laura was there to cut the tension, she was really good at it. For some reason _she_ could say anything she wanted,  
and no one really hated her. Perhaps it was the deadpan way she insulted people, like she was just observing facts. And her infectious laugh, when she was amused.

That had to be it. He just couldn't pull that off.

"I overheard Cyclops talking about how frustrated he is with this whole Kick thing," Ashida said. "This guy's really good. Everyone's under monitor...there are cameras  
everywhere. They just can't catch him."

"They haven't caught us either," Alleyne pointed out. "Can't be that good of a system if nine students are consistently sneaking out every night."

"Either that, or we're just _really_ good ourselves," Julian grinned.

Alleyne smiled, slightly, very reluctantly, then pulled out a chair and sat down. The other boy probably found it just as awkward as he himself did.

**...**

_Clunk._ The sound of his textbooks being set on the table. Julian pulled out a chair and sat down for his last class of the week-Friday telepathy with Ms. Frost. It _used _to  
be enjoyable, back in the days were he could goof off and daydream about his teacher naked. Now, though, on the rare occasion that he did do just that, a clipart of a  
wedding ring would suspiciously flare up in his head, and Ms. Frost would glare at him. He was just getting annoyed with this class-that had been the only point of  
attending, before. Academically, for three years he'd consistently showed no sign of being able to read minds. He flunked every exam. And yet...Professor Xavier had  
spoken with him privately, trying to encourage him to remain in it. They were expecting Julian to have a secondary mutation at any moment now, apparently.

Julian thought this was bullshit, but had continued to attend. The Professor was giving him extra credits for it (after their last talk).

He looked idly to his left. Quire was hunching over his table, working on a floating glass ball that contained a mutant brain. It was-or had been-Martha, a strong telepath  
and mild telekinetic. She'd been parted from her flesh by U-men about two years prior, and was attending the school, her glass bubble somehow performing all her bodily  
functions for her, and her telekinesis providing her mobility. Julian was vaguely afraid of her, and knew that she knew it.

**...**

Class passed by in silence, except for a few telepathic broadcasts. Julian fell asleep for a while, his head slipping off his arms and thumping on the desk. 

_Everybody listen up! _Someone thought, right into his mind. He rubbed his temples, annoyed; this was the biggest thing he hated about telepathy class. It tickled, and  
several times he'd been startled into little TK explosions.

_Jumbo carnation is dead,_ the voice continued. Julian turned around, like a few other people did, and glared at the source. "Why do I care if a flower died, asshole?" he  
asked, and as usual was ignored because he'd spoken aloud (Sophie Cuckoo did giggle, in the seat ahead of him). Yet another class where his failures were rubbed in his face.

_Word._ The boy was wearing a fluffy pink jacket, and holding a skimpily dressed girl across his lap. They both had dark skin; the girl had a strange viscose vein pattern  
across hers, which moved in an ambient-style effect.

Quire finally turned around in his seat too, and glared at the boy through his horn-rimmed glasses. "What? Hey, Do you mind getting out of my _head,_ Slick?" he asked.

"I'm trying to concentrate on making anti-gravity floats for Martha, okay? All she's got is the _memory _of a body!"

Julian pondered asking Laura to come with him to class sometime (since Tattoo, Slick's girlfriend, came with him _all_ the time, and she certainly wasn't a telepath), for the  
sole purpose that it would be very entertaining. She'd have a field day with these people...he'd almost feel remorseful. Almost.

"Yeah, at well, at least she's still _alive_ and _thinking_ about it...Jumbo Carnation is dead, loser. The best mutant designer to ever _live_, Some bunch of human retards blazed  
him right outside the X-Factory in Mutant Town, Quentin."

Quire looked down. "Oh."

"I've been working on some _songs_ as a tribute," Slick said, getting up (class apparently had finished; other people were getting up as well). "Anybody who wants to see  
me perform 'em can check out the benefit gig after lunch." He took Tattoo's arm. "Just thought it seemed important. C'mon, Tattoo."

Quire twitched with dislike and pulled out a chocolate bar from his pocket. He watched the Cuckoos stand up and move as a smooth, graceful unit to the  
doorway. "Sophie...Sophie..." he gazed after her longingly.

"Not going to get her _that_ way," Julian commented, picking up his books with a wave of a hand. It seemed that his powers were settling, now that he was using  
them so much every night; once again, he was able to do simple things.

"What way?" Quire glared at him.

"Being a desperate, whiny loser," Julian offered.

"Shut the hell up, Keller. What do _you_ know about the Cuckoos?"

"Not much. Except I banged all of them...on one night." Julian grinned and waved at Quire's astonished, indignant look. "Catch you later, man."

He opened the door and of course there was Laura, her eyes burning as she waited. Of course, too, she'd overheard his last comment. "That must have been a  
record...five pity fucks at once. I'm sure we could use that in a math equation to find out exactly how low of a life form you are."

"Pfft." Julian put his arm around her shoulder. "I'd pick you over them any day. Nothing like a girl who's first time is _every_ time." He was referring to a particular facet  
of Laura's healing factor that basically rendered her a permanent virgin.

"Nothing like a guy who's first time is _every_ time," she parroted back-very loudly-grinning like a fox. "Thanks, asshole," Julian mumbled. A passing group had heard  
and were laughing at him quite openly.

"You're quite welcome," Laura said. "So-yeah-I thought, instead of taking me out slumming again, you could take me and the Shrimps out somewhere fun."

"Eh?" Julian raised his eyebrows. "I thought you _were_ having fun with...this."

"Mmhmm. Hi, have you met me? I'm Laura...I like...F...U...N..."

"Alright, alright, I get the idea. I don't have money, though. And you should not be drinking!" Laura rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to get _drunk _or anything. You,  
of all people, should know just how much it takes to get past my healing factor. The Shrimps will be just fine." Julian frowned. "I still worry, beautiful..."

They stopped, outside their door; Julian ran his hands up her arms and leaned in to kiss her. "OHMIGOD, let's be spontaneous and pretend we're still enemies!  
Goodbye, asshole!" He didn't even have time to speak; Laura was like a snake. She avoided his kiss, slipped into the room and slammed the door behind herself.

Julian sighed and pressed his head against the door, trying to think about the lock, like Jean had taught him, but he was too annoyed to concentrate on something  
so small. And he'd left the fucking key in the room.


	34. 8: A SofUE 4:4 teenage hustling

* * *

**Volume: 2 "A Series of Unfortunate Events" 8 Issue: 4/4 )**

** Chapter 63: teenage hustling **

* * *

"You suck. It's been an hour," Julian said when the door finally opened. He decided to stop complaining there, though. Right there. Laura looked awesome-he wasn't  
even thinking anything perverted (about anyone else). He ran his eyes up and down her figure, and was quite happy to lay claim. Especially since he could see what  
he was claiming. She had an especially small top on-held together with a bunch of strings. And he wasn't altogether sure if it was big enough for her...he zoned out.

"Keller," Laura said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. He focused reluctantly. "Remember how you said you didn't have money to take me out?"

"You're not-" Julian was alarmed. He knew Laura-or he didn't-it was confusing, but he didn't trust that she wouldn't. "Absolutely not! I say fuck no. End of story.  
No one touches you..."

"Hah. Nice, you just called your own wife a whore," Laura said, pulling on her fur-trimmed leather jacket. "You never heard of hustling before?"

"Laura-" he swallowed.

"Relax. I know some pool...and I've never been in a bar without a drink in my hand. Guys can't resist the twins." She grinned at him. "I've been working it since I was  
fourteen, Keller...possibly thirteen. You needn't worry. Go get your jacket."

Julian got his jacket, despite his better instincts. He came back out into the hallway, to see Laura dropping her ring into her breast pocket.

"That's it...you put that back on," he snapped.

"It won't work if I look taken...Jules." She stuck her tongue-stud out at him. "For the night, you're my hot, single brother..."

"Uh...I guess," Julian shrugged. She'd just basically given him permission to graze, for the evening. He was still uncomfortable with the notion of Laura flirting...but what  
was the worst that could happen...

"Did you just call me hot?"

"Advertising the product, Keller. Don't worry your pretty little head over it."

**...**

"Pick a guy," Laura murmured, sitting beside him on the barstool.

"Wha-Laura! I'm straight!"

"Not you, idiot. I'll teach you a little something about getting free drinks. Pick a guy for me."

Julian squinted at the men around the bar. He wanted to pick the sorriest loser there, but that would just work in her favor. So he finally nudged her elbow and nodded towards  
a good-looking, slightly older guy in the corner who looked like he was with his girlfriend for dinner. He looked classy, with dark, silvery hair, sort of like Richard Gere; he couldn't,  
however, be older than 30 by his appearance.

"Ooh, a challenge. I like the way you think, Pattycakes." Laura studied the man, slumping back in her seat. Julian watched her, amazed-she didn't even look pregnant.

"Are you sucking them in?!" he asked.

"Mmm." Laura fingered her necklace-Julian suddenly noticed the long chain around her neck, with the pointy feather thing on the end. He'd never seen her wear anything but her  
cousin's choker; this was new. And he suddenly realized it was a prop-a good one. She was gliding the pendant back and forth on the long chain, just above her breasts, and  
shooting glances at the man.

He leaned on his elbow and watched the interplay of glances between his wife and the stranger; then Laura actually fabricated a blush-yes, Laura, who he'd never seen blush in  
his whole knowledge of her existence. He almost let his jaw drop as the guy leaned over, said something to his girlfriend, then got up and walked to the washroom. A few minutes  
later he emerged and headed over.

Laura turned her back to Julian.

"Hello there," the guy said, smiling slightly at her. "Couldn't help noticing your glances in my direction."

"Hey yourself," Laura purred, all sultry feminine. Julian had never heard this voice in his life emanating from her smaller frame.

Laura smiled at him, then flicked her tongue stud over her teeth, leaned over, and whispered something in the man's ear. He raised his eyebrows.

"I see. Can I buy you anything, my dear?"

"Double Bailey's, mint chocolate, on the rocks," Laura said, lowering her lashes at him once. She overdid nothing.

"I will be right back," the guy said.

"What the fuck? What did you say to him?" Julian hissed in her ear once the man had disappeared, not believing what he'd just seen. He was ready to nominate her for an  
Oscar himself.

"And why don't you ever say things like that to me?"

"Don't need to," Laura said in her normal voice. "Not like I want anything from you."

Scratch that-he had heard that special voice, once. Laura, in her mother's house, upstairs, her hands on his stomach. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Wow, thanks," he grumbled. "Making me feel so wanted here."

"Shut up!" Laura turned away; the man was returning, holding her drink.

"Here you go..."

"Looking for a nametag?" Laura asked after a few seconds. The man sneaked a glance at her breasts. "Actually, yes, I was," he covered smoothly, making it seem like a joke.

"Haha. I'm Bambalina," Laura said. Julian coughed to disguise a small laugh.

"What an unusual but pretty name. Mine is Max. Nice to meet you...may I call you Bambi?"

"Don't see why not," Laura grinned. She patted the empty seat beside herself. "Go on, sit down...I bet you're full of insights." He glanced towards his girlfriend's table.

"Go tell her you're taking off, sugarplum. I'll be here waiting." She tilted her head at him knowingly; he nodded and moved towards his table.

Julian tapped her shoulder. "Laura-"

"I know a booze tap when I see one," she hissed. "Keller! You useless lump! Go generate some for yourself, or you're not getting any tonight."

"Exactly how far are you going to go?"

"As far as it takes?" Laura arched her eyebrows at him. He grabbed her wrist.

"Don't you dare-"

"Oh, hello," the guy said again, popping up like a weasel. Julian scowled at Laura; she shook his hand off. "Sorry...this here is my brother, Jules. Our parents had a sick  
sense of humor."

"Amusing." The man glanced at Julian dismissively, then calmly sipped his whiskey.

Julian leaned hard on his elbow and tried not think about making the guy choke on his drink-because he might accidentally make it happen.

"He's just leaving now...weren't you, Jules? I think that little blond in the corner has her eye on you," Laura said, looking over her shoulder at him. Julian snorted in  
irritation, then turned away, scanning the bar. She wanted to turn this into a contest? Fine. The blond approached him, sparing him the effort.

"Looking for someone?" she asked softly.

"I dunno, am I?" he leaned on the counter and raised his eyebrows at her.

**...**

Laura finally approached the table, when Julian's little fan club shifted position and his head disappeared to do another body shot. When he straightened, there she  
was, her arms folded. He grinned at her. Finally, her turn to be jealous...and nothing much she could do about it, with four girls on the tips of their toes for him.

He leaned back and looked down at her from his stool, raising his eyebrows. The blond in his lap shifted. Yeah, he was kind of drunk, and yeah, the girls were really,  
really hot...and his wife was watching him...

"Can we help you?" the blond asked, scowling at Laura. He hadn't bothered to remember any of their names. He twirled a finger in her hair and waited for Laura's response.

What she came up with, he really hadn't expected.

"Well, well, look who it is." Laura leaned back too, and put her hand on her stomach. It was amazing how flexible she was, really. Of course she looked pregnant now.

"Your check bounced, dipshit. Now it's too late! I really didn't appreciate you giving me a fake number."

"..." Julian closed his eyes as the girls evaporated, some yelling insults at him as they left. The blond slapped him on the cheek, hard, then stormed off. "Asshole," he said  
to Laura, rubbing his injury.

Laura smiled at him grimly. "I could say the same. Oh, Shrimps, what are we going to do with daddy? He's un-possible!" She suddenly pulled herself up on his lap, and he was,  
in equal effect, suddenly very happy. "You'll hear about this later," she promised him. He didn't care at the moment, it was just them now. He leaned into her and kissed her gently

"Ew! You smell like wet slut." Laura wrinkled her nose and pushed him away.

"Hot." He looked over her shoulder suddenly, and squinted; but for some reason, he still didn't see the fist till it had slammed him in the nose. "OW!" he snarled, shaking  
his head. Greg-or Larry-or Lenny-or one of the four guys Laura had hustled tonight was speaking rapidly. Angrily.

"You told me he was your fuckin' brother!"

"That's right, we do fuck," Laura said, her arm around Julian's neck. "And he is my brother. It's awesome. We're expecting kids. Hope all the shit about inbreeding is just lies..."

"Sick freaks!" the guy said, mortified.

Laura giggled, a sound Julian didn't hear often. She often laughed-but a true giggle-it was like pure evil, coming from her. It meant she was about to have fun, and get  
them into terrible trouble.

"Laura-" he started.

"She said her name was Cordelia!"

"Well...she informed me that her name is Bambi." Julian looked to the side; there was Max. "I do believe we have been taken in, gentlemen."

Julian slipped off his stool. "Have fun," he said to Laura.

"Wha-you can't just leave me! That's why I brought you!" Laura said. "Keller!"

He shrugged. The men glared at Laura. "You said his name was Jules," Max added unhelpfully.

"Oh, it is," Laura said. "I wasn't lying about that."

"Remind me why I should help you," Julian said coldly.

"She hosed me out of $200 on pool!" the guy behind Max blurted.

"Yeah, you're on your own." Julian glanced to the side, pondering whether he should stay and watch or just leave. He wasn't too worried about Laura's safety; he'd  
seen her do some pretty incredible things. And she loved fights.

"Not so fast. I believe you are with her." Suddenly, Julian was involved; some massive plasma-like thing plowed into his stomach and sent him crashing through a row of barstools.

Julian coughed and glared at the other guy through a haze of pain. He certainly hadn't expected that-it was quite a massive sucker punch. Laura was looking a bit worried-maybe  
she hadn't known, either. The floorboards around them were still rattling from the blow.

"Maybe I lied a bit, too," the guy said. "This was my night off...I wasn't going reveal anything tonight...I had an appointment with a particularly interesting shape shifter...but  
I think you deserve it."

"Fuck that," Julian said, his eyes glowing. People in the background started yelling as the balls whizzed off the pool table and flew for the man's head. He ducked and countered  
with the same thing that had hit Julian; the projectiles flattened with a crunch, becoming discs.

"Interesting," the man said. He brought his fists down at the same time Julian threw his up, and he suddenly found himself fighting what felt like the force of an invisible  
elephant about to sit on his face.

Laura was distressed now. Nothing like this had ever happened in her previous excursions. Trust the one night she brought Keller along for everything to go wrong. He was like  
a bad-luck charm. She made a fist and popped her claws, but the moment she swung for Max's back, it slowed down to the point that she was barely moving.

"This is kind of unfair...y'know...I'm still drunk," Julian pointed out, sweating now as he struggled to push the field away. Laura tried to pull her arm out of the field, and failed.

It felt like some sort of a gravity warp. Or a pull. Or something.

The man smiled, a kind of sneer. He looked familiar, when he twisted his face this way; Laura couldn't place him though, an odd occurrence for her. Somehow, she felt she'd  
never seen his full face before.

"Fortunately for you, I am a fair man, Mr. Keller, and as I said, this is my night off." The force above Julian suddenly backed off; and it was all he could do to stop his own  
counter-field before it broke through the ceiling. He sat up, rubbing his temple.

"How do you know my last name?" he asked, confused.

"Your wife did say it out loud, several times this evening," Max said. "I have a gift for observation."

People around them had broken into a loud and angry murmur at the display of powers. Julian scrambled to his feet and grabbed Laura's wrist. "We should go," he murmured. She  
stared at Max. "I recognize you, now. You're the man from the dock. You smelled familiar."

Max tilted his head in acknowledgement. "Very observant of you, my dear.

"You!" Julian said. "You're dealing Kick"!" He glared at Max. Laura put her hand on his arm, an odd reversal of roles. Her telling him not to fight. "Keller...this is not the place.  
You're drunk, and he's too strong." Julian continued to glare, but knew that Laura was right. He didn't think he could hit Max if he tried; his aim wasn't exactly the best right  
now...he felt a little dizzy.

"Next time," he snapped, pulling Laura out of the bar with him.

**...**

"Grr." Julian dropped his books on the floor with a loud clunk. "Laura...I can't even begin to tell you how mad I am about last night!" He had just finished delivering his  
make-up lab to Dr. McCoy.

"So don't," Laura said calmly, not bothering to look away from the report she was typing. With such ease. He felt like twitching; the words just flowed out of her fingers,  
already perfect, already edited. Laura didn't need to spend three fucking days on her lab reports-just two hours. It killed him.

"We had him! Right there!"

"It's not my fault that you were drunk," Laura said.

"We should've been out, patrolling."

"Keller." Laura scrunched her eyebrows at the screen. "We can't be patrolling every moment. And I doubt we would have found him...obviously, he wasn't out doing his thing...I  
barely recognized him, last night. And I wasn't drunk."

"And then there's the shit you pulled," Julian said, his voice louder. He couldn't help it; the volume of his voice always increased when he got angry.

"The shit I pulled?" Laura looked up now, her expression and tone scornful. "Keller, I wasn't doing body shots, or holding a slinky blond on my lap. No...if there was any shit pulled last  
night, it was you pulling it...and I wasn't impressed. You're lucky I don't feel like making a big deal over it."

Julian ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't exactly get a warm, glowy feeling inside watching you drip over a whole bunch of jerks."

Laura's eyes widened. "..." She stood up, and he knew he'd offended her. "I was acting! For profit! Don't be a hypocrite."

"Hypocrite? How have I been a hypocrite?"

Laura pursed her lips. "You're the biggest flirt in the school. You suck up to the Cuckoos daily to get help with your Psi-class...even after what Sophie did to you. Don't pretend you  
don't know what I'm talking about! And don't get me started on Sofia, dumbass. I'm not in the mood."

"..." Julian flushed. "Take that back."

"No," she said, with a grim smile. "I won't take it back. It's true and you know it...and you brought it up. I was fine with silence. But you...you just have to push and prod things you  
don't understand!"

Julian closed his eyes. "Look. I don't like seeing you with other guys, end of story. That's all there is to it. You could do me a favor and not do it."

"You don't own me," Laura said quietly. "Hell no...I'll talk to who I want, however I want to do it...and whenever. I'm not changing who I am to please you."

"..." Julian turned his back on her. "Maybe we made a mistake then."

"..." Laura opened her mouth but nothing came out. She walked to the end of the bed, picked up her coat, then left the room, slamming the door behind her. Julian sat in her chair  
for a few minutes, looking at the monitor without seeing.  
**  
...**

"I just don't know what to do," Julian rubbed his forehead, looking down at his coffee-thing. He'd forgotten the name. Sofia was sitting across the table from him, looking  
slightly distressed. He'd just told her the story.

"I do not think you should have said what you did," Sofia said finally. "It is good to be honest...but...you suggested you had made a mistake. Is that the truth, Julian? Do you regret her?"

"No!" he said sharply. "I was being an asshole! 'Coz _she_ was an asshole! I haven't learned to keep my trap shut it seems...and she takes things so literally sometimes.  
I mean...we have one argument...and she takes a box and goes and stays with Ashida...and acts like I'm not there in class!"

Sofia frowned. "She felt as if she needed space. Laura...is a free spirit. From what you have told me, I think you are...insecure...in the fact that she...loves you.  
Perhaps she has not made it clear?"

"I don't know. All I know is I've spent three nights outside Ashida's door, listening to silence from Laura, and insults from the room owner. And it's giving me a headache."

He looked at Sofia miserably.

Sofia looked at her coffee cup. Although she enjoyed talking to Julian, she still found it hard. She'd never entirely stopped liking him, and moments when he looked at  
her--like now--were disturbing. She couldn't kiss him, like she wanted to; she didn't want to cause more trouble between him and Laura. She'd closed the file when  
she'd seen them together, and that there was a family involved. Sofia was a good person, she wouldn't break anything up. But it still hurt, and made it difficult.

"You need to tell this to Laura. You need to make her feel appreciated. And you need to learn how to share her. Although what she does at times might be...  
inappropriate...you need to trust her."

Julian sighed. "Can't I impress her or something?"

"No." Sofia allowed herself a smile. "This isn't a competition. I think Laura is mostly upset and hurt that you do not trust her. And that you are too possessive. I think,  
perhaps, that she does not see it from your...what is the word? Side? Perspective?"

"Yeah, something like that," Julian nodded. "Thank god I still have people to talk to. I should have someone else run my life for me. Want the job?"

Sofia smiled again and looked down.


	35. 9: Omega 1:2 provocative

**A/N: **I know, right? So Julian. Logan is otherwise occupied, like he usually is in the comics. There's a big bombshell issue coming up (may I make a note here that I  
wrote this bombshell issue WAY before the subject came up in Marvel, quite frankly I was surprised to read _their_ issue where the subject reared its head again. I was  
like WHAT THE FUCK they're ripping me off--oh wait, they **are** their characters, duh)--shortly after it, a little insight into Logan's thoughts on the matter. I have an arc  
planned about 2 or 3 from now that elaborate a bit more on exactly what's going on with Logan. The next few arcs are quite exciting, and I have come up with a massive  
enormous earth-shaking plot (mansion rocking anyway) for the Shrimps, in the far future. Fantabulous!

**PS~ **this chapter is a lil sappy, but hey, stuff like this happens all the time between real couples.

* * *

**Volume: 2 Arc: "Omega" 9 Issue: 1/2 )**

** Chapter 64: provocative **

* * *

Julian sat by Ashida's door again, the fifth night in a row. He'd brought a secret weapon this time, to draw Laura out-a batch of Barnell's cookies, taken from the oven about  
ten minutes ago. They were still steaming. He opened the lid off the box and slid it towards the door opening, trying not to make too much noise.

A few minutes later (following a murmur of voices from the room), Ashida opened the door and scowled at him.

"You're cheating," she said.

"If that's what you want to call it," Julian said. "Can I talk to her?"

"No. But she'll take the cookies." Ashida held out her hand for the box.

"Oh, c'mon-"

"Keller, this is my room. You're not coming in. The cookies."

Julian handed them over and leaned his head against the wall. "Laura...what do I have to do to see you again?" he called through the open door, knowing she could hear him  
perfectly well. Silence.

"You really stuck your foot in it this time," Ashida said, with a delighted grin.

"Oh, shut up." Julian closed his eyes. "So I say the wrong thing sometimes. It's not the first time it's happened."

Ashida leaned forwards, holding onto the doorframe so she could get close to his ear."Youdidn'thearitfrommebutshehatesthefactthatyouneverdoanythingsweetfor her," she whispered,  
very rapidly. Julian's eyes widened. "NORI! I heard that!" Laura shouted angrily. "I thought I said don't talk to him!"

"That wasn't talking. I just called him every dirty name I know," Ashida grinned. "He's blushing so hard I think he popped some vessels." She kicked Julian in the side of his leg with  
a look that said 'get to it' and then turned and closed the door firmly behind her. Julian blinked. Had Ashida just helped him out? And what did she mean, do something sweet?  
Cook dinner? He didn't know anything about cooking. He'd nuked something in the microwave, once, as a kid, when the servants were busy, and it had exploded. Then he'd come  
to Xavier's, where all meals were also prepared...and he'd never seen the point of cooking. He was sure he wasn't good at it.

_Oh my god._

**...**

"Cooking, Barnell. I need to learn cooking." Julian stared anxiously at Bohusk. Laura hadn't arrived yet.

Barnell blinked his big blue eyes. "To satisfy the wrath of your demon queen?" he asked, his voice knowing.

"No. Yes. Yes, very much so." Julian looked away. "Fuck. I'm this close to breaking into Ashida's room and just hauling her out. I could do it."

"Don't!" Barnell said. "You can't force her. Nothing would be worse. Then she definitely won't give you a chance."

The door opened, and Julian almost stood up, looking at Laura anxiously. He missed her intensely, aside from the fact that he was worried. She took a seat across the room and  
opened her books, not looking up. He decided to try again, moving slowly towards her table like he was approaching an easily startled rabbit. "Laura...hi..."

She didn't even look up from her book. He waved his hand in front of her face; she flipped a page, not reacting. At all. Julian frowned, touched her cheek, then left, knowing she  
wasn't going to acknowledge him. She was very good at ignoring people.

**...**

Day six. Julian sat at Nori's door again. She'd approached him in Math class that morning, and told him she would be out that evening, with David. To his mild surprise, he  
realized that he had begun to think of them by their first names, something he only really did with his friends.

The most important fact in this information was that Laura would be in her room, alone. He'd spent some time after class with Barnell, trying to duplicate a simple cookie.

Even with supervision there had been problems. Oh well.

He did the same thing as last time, sliding the open box of cookies to the crack in the door, then sat back and waited. About five minutes passed, then the door creaked open,  
and Laura glared at him with one eye. "Go away. Leave the cookies."

"No." Julian picked up the box possessively. "Laura, you can't have any until you talk to me."

The door shut again, with an amazing slam, considering the face that it had only been open about two inches. He replaced the box and waited.

Ten minutes passed; the door finally ripped open and Laura stomped out, looking very disgruntled. She was wearing her jacket.

"Laura!" He scrambled to his feet. "I really, really need to talk to you. Please..."

She ignored him, zipping up the front over her belly. It was bigger. He grabbed her upper arm; she popped her claws and held them to his wrist. "You're being unfair," he said,  
releasing her arm. "I haven't even gotten to tell you my side of things."

Laura glared at him. Her look clearly said he'd done exactly that during the fight.

"I was angry! Laura...I don't ever admit this...but I'm not good with words when feelings are involved, okay? I fucked up, and I'm really sorry. I didn't mean what I said, at all.  
Not one word."

"Sounded pretty clear to me," Laura said quietly.

"It wasn't. I'd rather have you...and...and you can do whatever...as long as I have you. Okay? I..." he looked down, embarrassed. He was starting to sound way too emotional,  
and had to remind himself that she was the one preggos here, not him. "Cookie?"

Laura peered into the box. "Hearts?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"I made 'em just for you," he said proudly.

"They're burnt."

"Well, yeah. I kind of blew up Bohusk's kitchen, a bit."

Laura's eyes flashed.

"Nonono, I cleaned it up. Even got the dough off the ceiling." He held one up. "These are the good ones...they're called small bread or something."

"Shortbread," Laura said. She took it from him and nibbled it tentatively; she raised an eyebrow. "It's good."

"What, did you expect me to poison you?" Julian asked. "I made Barnell test one first to make sure." He grinned hopefully at her.

"Keller...I'm pissing mad at you. I don't think we should be around each other right now. I'll say things."

"I don't care," Julian said earnestly. He was barely even disgusted with himself.

"It'd be great to just talk to you again."

"Keller! Ewww! It makes me sick, when you're so squishy." She reached in the box for another cookie. "These are good though." She took the box from him and proceeded to  
wolf them down. Then she looked at the bottom of the box.

"They're gone. I'm depressed."

"You scare me," Julian said, then he put his hand on her arm again, not sure if she would actually hurt him-he'd seen her do some pretty spectacular damage during temper  
tantrums, and once she'd actually hurt Wolverine (which didn't matter much because he healed), but he doubted it. Laura tensed.

"Please come back. I'll make more for you. And you can bang whoever you want, as long as I don't get herpes, okay?"

"Keller!" she said, but she smiled a bit. "Oh, fine. I only took one pair of socks anyways, and they don't smell great. And I won't get herpes." She neglected to add whether  
she meant she would heal, or that she wouldn't flirt anymore. Julian liked to think the latter, but he didn't especially feel like asking. He helped her collect her things and  
carry them back to their room.

**...**

Clunk. Friday telepathy class, his books hit the table and then he sat down. But he was considerably happier; he'd woken up that morning to find his face was buried in  
the crook of Laura's neck. He didn't think anything could really touch him today.

In front of him, Sophie was leaning her cheek on her hand, glaring at her sheet of paper.

Suddenly the door burst open and revealed Quire. His face was beat red...and he was wearing the strangest outfit Julian had seen in the school to date. A red striped  
sweater vest, a crisp white dress shirt, and navy slacks, with a whip curled around his waist. His hair had been shaved on the sides...and the remaining Mohawk was  
dyed purple.

Julian raised his eyebrows. Quire was obviously a little pissed off; he dropped his book bag with a loud bang on the floor.

"What's with the outfit?" he asked.

Quire snapped his head around, like a hunting bird. "A statement. Check this out." He pulled something out of his pocket-a wrinkled piece of paper-and handed it to  
Julian, who took it cautiously (like it might bite him).

It was a newspaper clipping; more particularly, a picture of a man with an odd hairstyle and outfit (like Quire's), whipping people as they carried cement blocks up an incline.

The caption read _'Artist's interpretation of fate of mankind if mutants are not driven out-as predicted by Dr. Bolivar Trask.'_

"I see," Julian said skeptically.

Quire snatched it back. "You're just like every other idiot at the school, Keller. Close-minded, thinking the same empty little thought over and over. So afraid of humans you  
let them corner you into a pen. This is what it should be like! We are homo superior, are we not?"

Julian paused. He'd always been a tad on the edge himself; after he'd made a speech about Kevin in the cafeteria, rumors had floated for weeks that he was going to  
be the next Magneto.

"Quire, you might wanna be careful, walking around with that in your pocket," he said. "I can think of a lot of people who wouldn't find it funny."

"It's not supposed to be funny!" Quire said, flushing. "This is serious. Did you hear what they did to Jumbo Carnation?!"

"I heard it was a Kick overdose," Julian said.

Quire grinned. "Lies and slander, my friend." He had the sense that some offer was being extended; he was supposed to ask Quire something.

"Humans aren't that bad," Julian said slowly instead. "There's a lot of them I like. You know, I did grow up thinking I was one."

"And you're always _going_ to be one, with that attitude," Quire said, disgusted. He turned away.

**...**

The rest of the class was droning on, with nothing remarkable occurring. Emma Frost was sitting at the desk, clasping her hands together and looking at each  
student as she had a telepathic conversation with them. Her eyes turned to Julian, and she smiled at him.

_Ah, Mr. Keller. Glad to see that you have joined us again._

_"..."_

Julian still couldn't even form a mental response to her greeting.

_I'm sure the static was louder today,_ Emma said, a little sarcastically. _I will check back with you. _Her eyes riveted to Quire; she stiffened.

"Mr. Quire, that is quite rude," she said out loud; all eyes turned to him.

"It's the truth," Quire said abrasively.

"Be as it may, it's still rude to shout into someone else's mind," Frost said coolly. She turned her head, looked at the door; Julian could just see the brain cells  
clicking in conversation. When the door finally opened, he was surprised to see Xavier duck in, smiling.

Julian hadn't seen the Professor much. He'd seen him about once a year for his three years at the school, except for the large events.

The first time had been the morning he'd arrived; he'd been taken to the headmaster's office (which at the time belonged to Professor Xavier). He'd been different then--  
he'd spent time comparing his own house to the mansion and deciding his house was better, and then trying to impress the Professor with the amount of power in his head.  
He'd just turned sixteen when his parents sent him away, and had thought he'd known everything. Now he could understand why the Professor seemed to be laughing at  
him--but back then, he'd just been offended.

The second time had been a year later, at night, when he'd snuck down to the kitchen for a three AM snack. He thought he'd get in trouble if caught, but he found the  
Professor there as well-in striped PJs, drinking straight out of a milk carton. They'd had a short conversation about the weather.

And the third time, of course, had been just before he and Laura had been teleported away to the Savage Lands, along with a few of his team members--and the  
New Mutant team members. There had also been a visit to the Professor's office, where the older man tried to convince him to stay in the telepathy class.

Surprisingly, it was the other meetings that stood out in his mind.

"Hello, Miss Frost," Xavier said, smiling. "Do you mind if I commandeer the attention of your students for a moment? It won't take long."

"Of course." Frost leaned back in her chair. "All yours, Charles."

Xavier looked at the pupils. His eyes settled on Quire, and he frowned. "Mr. Quire, are you aware that your attire is identical to that shown in a newspaper article several years back?"

"I wasn't, sir," said Quire, who had the article tucked in his back pocket. Julian raised his eyebrows again-the kid had stones, looking at Xavier in the eye and lying so blatantly.

Xavier folded his arms. "Mr. Quire...I can see what you're thinking. I agree, certainly, that stereotypical portrayals of mutants have come a long way since I founded the  
Xavier institute...my X-men and I have spent many years working to liberate the negative image of mutants from the hands of bigots and propagandists. But in light of our  
efforts to heal the split between humans and mutants and especially in the context of the upcoming Open Day for both races...let's just say your mode of dress seems  
somewhat deliberately...provocative, Quentin. That's all."

"These clothes are part of a creative history project, Professor Xavier. I think it's time young mutants reclaimed some of the offensive imagery produced by 'bigots' and  
propagandists in the mass media." Quire stood up. "I wanted to use the Open Day to make a strong, confrontational statement about how far we've all come from those  
dark days of persecution." He grinned. "That's all, Professor."

Julian blinked. Talk about over-thinking things.

"Yes. Your look certainly has the desired effect, Quentin." The Professor smiled grimly. "Where possible, however, we prefer to examine non-confrontational pathways."

Emma leaned on the desk. "Our young Mr. Quire thinks ten million brilliant thoughts per second, Charles. The rest of us can't seem to keep him distracted with our shallow and  
grubby paddlings through the minds of the rich and undignified."

Julian frowned. "_That's_ what you guys are doing?"

Xavier glanced at Julian in acknowledgement. "Ms. Frost is correct," he said, turning back to Quire. "You've changed considerably in recent weeks, Quentin..."

"But isn't change the point of our education here? Butterflies from caterpillars and all that old stuff from your very first lecture? All I've done is see things from a higher  
perspective, sir. All I've done is _grow up_ a little."

Julian leaned back in his chair, alarmed that Quire was making him reminisce. He wasn't even 20 himself, and he was already finding teenagers amusing.

_Don't hyperventilate, Mr. Keller,_ Emma said, glancing at him coolly. _Yes, it is quite a shock the first time you realize you're getting older, isn't it? Wait until you find your first gray._

"And we're all very proud of you," the Professor was saying in response. "However, in three days time, the institute is opening its doors to humans and mutants alike,  
and I'd prefer to avoid confrontational statements. But that's actually not why I stopped by..."

Emma reached into her drawer and pulled something out-a Kick inhaler. Julian leaned forward in his seat-now this was getting interesting.

"This is," Emma said, smiling slightly. "Own up. The Professor wants to know if any of you naughty Bohemian boys and girls have been "on the puff", as they say in the local discos."

Quire stared at the Professor, and at Emma. Julian watched them too, his eyebrows drawn together. What was the point of this exercise? They must know already.

Were they really expecting anyone to admit to it?

"This is ridiculous," Quire said, his eyes narrowing. "I actually have an important question, Professor. If my clothes are provocative, doesn't it follow that it's more provocative  
to invite humans into a school filled with vulnerable mutant children?"

The Professor watched him carefully.

"Didn't humans provide the weapons which just killed sixteen million of our people in Genosha? Didn't they just _murder_ one of our greatest artists, Jumbo Carnation?  
We live under constant threat."

Julian flushed slightly at the mention of Genosha, thinking of his parents' possible involvement.

"Ms. Frost, please..." the Professor took the Kick inhaler from Frost.

"This is an immediate threat to all of us, Quentin," he said, holding it up. "I'm not here to tell you or anyone else what to do, but we have reason to believe the stimulant  
known as 'Kick' is neuro-toxic. Using these inhalers may irreparably damage the mutant X-Gene." He looked grim. "Arm yourselves with information. Please think before you act."

"One more thing, Professor," Quire said boldly. "I don't know if you realize this or not, but my clothes are based on designs by the late, aforementioned Jumbo Carnation."

"Ah, sit down and shut up, Quire!" A guy in the back row said. "I was having the best day of my life in Hugh Hefner's head till you started up..."

People giggled. Julian leaned his cheek on his hand.

"Maybe you've heard about him-he was murdered in the streets the other night." Quire spread his arms in gesture. "Jumbo dreamed of seeing mutant models on the Paris  
fashion catwalks. He dreamed of having his talent accepted. Just like I dream of a world where I don't have to live side by side with his human murderers!"

"Just because some birds are irrefutably black...it does not follow that all birds are blackbirds." The Professor was staring intently at Quire now.

"You are falling into logical error, Mr. Quire."

"I was just testing." Quire stared right back. "I'm only playing devil's advocate, Professor. You've always encouraged us to dream...I just wondered what would happen  
if one of us had a dream you didn't like?"

Silence.

"Then you get expelled, and end up working at McDonald's for a greasy twelve-year-old named Billy-Bob?" Julian started at Laura's voice. She was peaking in through  
the doorway. "Er, sorry...I thought you were finished."

"Quite," Emma said. "You are all dismissed. Charles...there is a matter on which I wish to speak to you." She looked serious.

Laura watched as the students spilled out into the hallway. She turned as Quire walked through, and wrinkled her nose. "Someone's a little late for Halloween."

"Someone's a little late with their _period_," he said with an answering sneer.

"You must have really bad PMS, then," Laura grinned. "If you want to fight dirty...at least _I _got some."

Quire turned his back on her with a rude hand gesture. "That's one boy who takes his Eminem too seriously," Laura commented.

"He was getting on my nerves," Julian mumbled, when the boy was out of earshot. "For someone who thinks 'ten million brilliant thoughts per second', he sure is a dumb fucker."

"He reeked of Kick, too," Laura said, raising her eyebrow. "Ten bucks says we follow him, we get our dealer."

"Good luck," Julian said. "He's a stronger telepath than Frost, and the Cuckoos-even as the five-in-one. I get a headache sitting near him sometimes."

"Hmm," Laura said. "I'm Psi-resistant."

"What?! How come everyone in this mansion seems to have some sort of psychic-whammy except for me?" Julian huffed. "And absolutely not. I know what you're thinking,  
despite me not being gifted that way. I refuse."

"Do you want to catch this Kick dealer and be an X-man or not?"

Julian paused. "I do. Sophie hates him, no?"

"Mmm." Laura pursed her lips at him. "They all do. I hear them talking about it all the time in class and the lunchroom."

"We're going to ask the Cuckoos for help, then," Julian said thoughtfully. "I'll have them shield me, and then follow Quire to whoever his source is."

"I'm better suited for the job, Keller!" Laura snapped. "Wha-what did we just talk about, the space thing?!" Her eyes flashed. He took her chin in his hand and kissed her.

"Fine. I don't care about you-go jump in a blender for all I care...I'm just worried about the Shrimps. I don't want them getting hurt. I love them...Does that work  
better for you, beautiful?"

Laura flushed. "Keller-"

"I'll do it, end of story." Julian's tone was final.


	36. 9: Omega 2:2 undercover

**A/N: **Weee! I've **finished**, yes finished, writing vol 2...and started on vol 3. Funfunhappyhappyjoyjoy

* * *

**( Volume: 2 Arc: "Omega" 9 Issue: 2/2 )**

****** Chapter 65: undercover ******

**

* * *

**

"Hi, girls," Julian said, leaning over the Cuckoo's table. Five identical blond heads jerked upwards, the burning white-blue eyes focusing on him.

"Jjjjjulian," they murmured, at the same time. Only Sophie looked happy to see him.

"How's it going? You as bored with telepathy as I am?"

The girls exchanged smiles. "Not having much success..." Mindee said. "...are we?" Esme. It had always creeped him out how they shared thoughts  
like that, each letting another sister finish the sentence they had started.

"Not really, no." Julian frowned. "I need a favor."

"Aaaaa favor?" the girls droned together.

"How rude," Esme said.

"It's not good manners to come up to people..." Mindee.

"...and ask them favors, just like that." Celeste.

"I don't mind," Sophie said, frowning.

"Of course you don't," Celeste.

"You make me sick." Phoebe.

Julian shrugged. "It's a mutual interest. I'm going to get rid of Quentin Quire, and thought you girls might want to help."

All five Cuckoos tilted their heads at the same time.

"Qqqqquentin...yes, we hate Quentin. Every one of us."

"He smells!" Celeste. "Like too much sweat." Celeste again.

"He eats those candy bars all the time." Phoebe.

"His mind is so see-through." Sophie.

"And filled with strange thoughts." Mindee. The girls shuddered at the same time.

"Yeah, all that. Plus he's into Kick."

"Kkkkkick?" the girls asked, their eyes wide.

"That's the one," Julian said, nodding. "I'm gonna catch him in the act. But I need help. I need someone to shield my mind while I'm around him, so he  
can't read me. I'm trying to follow him to his dealer...but if I find out who it is, it'll expose Quire, too. I thought you might be interested."

"Wwwwe have to--" the sisters fell silent for a moment.

Then...

"Yes," Sophie said, her eyes burning brightly in her pale face. "When?"

**...**

"Quire."

Quentin turned his head; the boy who sat beside him in telepathy had his hand on his arm. "I'd take that off before I make you," he said.

Keller-that was the boy's name, right?-shifted and removed his grip. "People are always telling me that. Anyways...I'm looking for some...uh..."

"Yeah, right," Quentin snorted, not believing Keller. He irritated Quentin-he was so arrogant, he acted like he was so special and powerful...he  
remembered, being thirteen, and watching the older boy in silent admiration as he yelled around the cafeteria, defending the poison-skin boy.  
Thoughts swam in his head, he was thinking too much at once. It irritated him further.

Keller held up his hand. "Oh, alright, fine...je-eez, thought you were all with it now... by the way, purple is not your color, you look gay."

"..." Quentin pushed Julian towards a less-crowded corner of the hallway. "I know you don't do it," he hissed. "Quit trying to pass off."

Keller grinned. "Guess you haven't heard about how powerful I am, lately. Have you met my fine little creation in the Cafeteria? Two guesses  
to what happened there. They can't even get rid of it."

Quentin stopped. He had heard about Keller's little power jumps...he'd seen the damage. It was quite extraordinary...he'd ripped an enormous  
section of roof right off the school...and that other time...he'd flown at Mach speed through six floors...or something...he shook his head.  
It was hard, trying to focus on just one thought long enough to complete it, with a brain that was stamping them out as fast as his  
accelerated neurons could connect.

"You're not cool. I tried to hint to you already...but you turned it down."

"We were in a roomful of telepaths, you idiot," Keller said. "Of course I wasn't going to let on there."

"..." Quentin focused on the other boy with bloodshot eyes. "Alright. Come to me room...nine tonight...we're going out. We're getting  
what we deserve."

"Good," Keller said, turning away.

**...**

"Nine tonight," Julian said, stretched out again on the bed. "He looked about ready to burst. Shouldn't be hard to catch him...I bet he takes  
me straight to the guy."

"Don't be stupid, Keller. You're going to have to get him to trust you before he shows you his dealer." Laura wrinkled her nose.

Julian sat up. "Laura...I'm not actually doing any shit with him. Absolutely not. I refuse to take a neuro-toxin."

"You have to make it look like you did, then."

"How?"

"I don't know," Laura said, exasperated. "Turn your back to them. Pretend to inhale. Close your mouth at the last second, or something. Or  
maybe--just maybe--you're not a dumbass, and you remember you can control molecules with your brain."

Julian looked worried.

"Oh, for god's sakes, Keller. I'm going to have to help you, aren't I?"

"..." he rubbed his neck. "Laura...I don't want you involved in this shit..."

"You don't trust me not to sample it. Is that it?" Laura's gaze suddenly burned him with its intensity. "All the trouble we've been having...that  
we've ever had...is that we don't trust each other, Keller. I think you should be the man here...pretend you have balls and trust me for once."

Julian watched her carefully. "All right. I trust you, Laura. Because I love you. But don't forget that for a damn minute."

"I won't," she said, sitting beside him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him; he pulled her down. "I love you too," she said  
between kisses. "And...thank you."

"My pleasure...I can think of how...you can pay me back," Julian teased.

**...**

9 o'clock. They hurried along the corridors, pausing to inform the Cuckoos to start shielding Julian (they didn't look pleased to see Laura, but did not comment).  
After a brief argument about which direction Quire's room was in (with Laura winning as per usual), they headed up to the third floor. She honed in on  
Quire's voice and led Julian to the door.

He held her hand tightly, stepped forward and knocked. For about a minute, no one answered; then it opened, and Quire glared out with one bloodshot eye.

"Did I say she could come?" he hissed.

"No. Wasn't aware I needed your permission," Julian said. Laura glanced at him; he was quite convincing. He knew how to be arrogant (although she'd already  
known that; he'd been nothing _but_ ego when she'd met him).

Quire opened the door a bit more. "Well, it's my stuff, and my permission you need to use it, you hear?"

"I'll do as I please. You're lucky if my interests coincide with yours, Quire, trust me. I've got the cash-which you don't."

Laura kept her face set, even though she was surprised to hear this. What if Quire called him on it, to show him money?

"I heard you went and got yourself disowned," Quire sneered. "Over that." He nodded to Laura; her grip on Julian's hand tightened. She hated when  
guys referred to her as an object.

"Lies and slander, my friend," Julian said, copying what Quire had said to him yesterday. Quire grinned; he opened the door all the way. "Fine. But you  
keep her quiet. I hear yapping, she's out."

Laura closed her eyes as Julian pulled her in, but not in anger. Quire's room smelled-of teenage sweat, dirty socks, burning ashes, disgusting things in the bed,  
food crumbs in the carpet, and over it all, a heavy layer of Kick. It was overpowering. The Professor should fumigate.

"Who's this?" There were four other kids in the room, the blond boy spoke; Laura had seen them all before. Tattoo-the girl from Julian's telepathy class-Radian,  
Glob Herman, and Redneck. They were all second class mutants, far removed from Quire, Julian, and herself, and she could see why they were drawn to Quire,  
and to Kick. They were envious, they longed to be powerful. They didn't see that power meant nothing, and that everyone else was just as lost as them,  
regardless of ability.

"Friends," Quire grinned. "This is Hellion...and...what's your name?"

"X-23," Laura said shortly.

"X-23," Quire repeated, like she hadn't just spoken it aloud. "They're here to share some of our special air, and to sever the umbilical-like connection with  
Xavier and his disgusting ideals." He reached into his pocket and produced an inhaler-the inhaler. Laura grabbed it from him, inserted it into her mouth,  
and glanced at Julian, who nodded slightly, his hands shifting in his pockets like he was playing with his car keys. He closed his eyes as she depressed  
the inhaler, thinking about the molecules; he felt them leave her mouth with her next breath out, and relaxed slightly, directing them to settle under  
the bed. The control was so tiny that the glow did not show more than a patch of glistening air, like a mist; they had practiced this in their room,  
with a spray bottle of water. Fear for Laura and the Shrimps made his control all the tighter.

Now it was his turn. The tricky part. Laura handed it to him; he took it with his right hand. He was a lefty, and he hadn't done too well with this earlier,  
with the water. He closed his eyes, his fingers ready in his pocket; he depressed the trigger and tried to force the molecules out as fast as they flew in.  
He suddenly felt different-a few, not much, had escaped his control. He opened his eyes and they were still glowing. "Thanks," he said, coughing slightly  
and tossing the inhaler back to Quire.

"CAREFUL! Don't waste a drop," Quire said, struggling to catch it. Julian shrugged.

Laura watched him, noting his scent had changed slightly. He'd partially inhaled.

"Feeling pretty fine, aren't we?" Quire grinned.

"Not bad," Julian played more with his car keys. "So, what, I'm ten times more powerful now?"

"...five," Quire said, annoyed.

"You got ripped off, then," Julian said, grinning. "You should talk to your peddler."

Laura raised her eyebrow, surprised that he'd known the proper word. Julian looked at her and mouthed the word 'google'.

"Pfft." Quire took a whiff from the inhaler. "This is good enough for me."

"Mhmm." Julian looked at the wall. "Lot of shit you have there...what's that you were saying about ideals?"

"We're the New X-men," Quire declared boldly. "We're just about to suit up, too. You want in? I have extras."

Nerd, Laura thought vehemently.

"Sure, why not?" Tinkle tinkle, Julian's keys in his pocket. He held out his left hand again to her; she took it, and her eyes shot down. His hand was  
hot, on fire; his pulse was way too fast. His eyes were bright, neon green, almost white in the centers. A beautiful but alarming color. She felt uneasy.

"Here." Quire shoved an armful of stripes into Julian's free hand. "Hope you can figure out which one is for her."

Laura took the striped, strapless top from Julian and raised her eyebrows. No way it would fit. She made a fist and popped her claws.

"What're you doing?" Quire said, alarmed. "Don't fuckin' cut it! It's a Jumbo Carnation original! It's priceless!"

Laura paused, her claws against the middle of the garment.

"Here." Julian arched his fingers over the striped fabric; a trail of black and red lifted off the top and followed his guidance. He touched Laura's own  
shirt--a sort of rugby shirt that fit her swell nicely--and it morphed.

"There you go," he grinned. "Everyone wins."

"Not bad," Quire said thoughtfully. "That's some fine control. I think you can leave the pants..."

Laura coiled the whip around her waist silently, trying not to think 'idiot' too loudly. Objects like large belts were a no-no; Laura had known this  
even before her first fight.

Julian snapped his fingers, and suddenly he was wearing the outfit.

"Wohhh," Glob Herman said, in awe. "That was awesome."

"The hair," Quire said.

"You can forget it," Julian said. "I don't know about you guys, but I don't need a comb over."

"You want in this gang or not?" Quire asked.

"I don't want in, Quire. You want me. 'Coz I'm better than all of you put together, and you know it. X, too. You ask us to do something I don't want to do,  
it's not happening. Understand?" Julian's eyes burned. Laura was impressed; where was this side of him in the bedroom?

"..." Quentin glared at him. "Fine. Have it your way." He turned to the rest. "Say hello to your new brother and sister."

Laura bit her lip, feeling the overwhelming desire to laugh. Julian folded his arms.

"Let's go," Quire grinned. "We have some avenging to do!"

**...**

"Keller," Laura murmured, pulling Julian aside as the others ran ahead, giddy with whatever-the-hell was going on in their brains.

"Just how much Kick did you inhale?"

"Not much," Julian said. She found she couldn't really gauge his expression when his eyes were illuminating half his face, and it made her uncomfortable.

"I'll be fine, don't worry. I'm not made of porcelain."

"Still-it's a neurotoxin-"

"I'll be fine," he repeated firmly. "Look, I know what I'm doing, alright? I know what we're doing. Let's just focus." He turned his back on her and  
flew after Quire's gang. Laura covered her mouth with her hand, then touched her throat, something she did when she was worried. She ran  
after him-and stopped as she rounded the corner. This wasn't right...she'd known it would happen but she didn't think it would be this graphic...  
Quire's gang was hurting people. Humans. There were people screaming, and bones snapping, and...she watched Herman shove a melted wax  
hand into a guy's face, and saw him writhe in agony.

She ran over, took aim, and-wham-she kicked the man in the side of the head, hard, in precisely the right area. He was out like a light. As  
Quire's head riveted to watch her, possibly alerted by her actions, she popped her claws, trying to calculate how she could fake an attack,  
but Julian saved her the effort. Suddenly everything in the alley lifted-including herself, Quire's gang, the humans, some freight trucks  
parked on the side, and the dumpster bins. She looked up, afraid.

He looked very arrogant, floating about thirty feet in the air. Then he dropped the humans and the rest of the rubbish to the ground, lifting the  
Omegas up beside him. He looked down and pointed.

Laura watched as the area rippled, then a green wave washed over it; when it was finished, there was a smoking crater left, and all the humans  
were lying face-down. "Yesss!" Quire shouted, clenching his fists and waving them. "Put us down, we need to leave our mark."

Julian guided them down.

"What the hell was that?!" Laura asked, grabbing his wrist. He hadn't put her down yet.

"Relax, jeez. It was all flash, no bang."

Laura studied him suspiciously.

"And wasn't it you who wanted to trust each other earlier?" he added. He curled his arm around her waist. "Come on. Like I would kill anyone."

Laura tried to flatten her hackles as he took them down.

**...**

"You got it out of your system now?" Laura asked him the next morning, her hair wrapped in a towel. She leaned on the door frame, studying Julian,  
who was still in bed (as it was Saturday morning).

"Mmmm." He buried his head in his pillow; he felt like shit.

"Good. I don't like it when you inhale."

"...only when I swallow?" He rolled over and grinned at her. She tilted her head; he seemed to be back to normal now. _Snff._ Scent analysis  
proved the Hypercortisone D had evaporated from his system.

"You know it," she answered. "Don't do that again. Or..."

"Or what?"

Laura pursed her lips. "I'll take your car for a joyride."

Julian sat up in horror. "You wouldn't."

"I would, to teach you a lesson about what happens to junkie's cars. I've devoted my time to directing you on the path of life."

"I should be so lucky," Julian grumbled.


	37. 10: An interlude of p info 1:2 clone!

**A/N: NEW BLOG FOR FANFICS, NEWS, BLOGGING, AND HELIX WEBSITE-RELATED SHITS! h t t p : / / helix23. blogspot. com/** (remove spaces) or check out my Author page.

**Another note: **Tahhdahhhhh! The chapter I've been hinting about for a while. Seriously, I wrote this _ages_ before the Marvel comic came out bringing this character  
back. I picked up the issue and went 'what the fuck?!'. Some readers may not like this character and its association to another character in the Helix series, but that's  
the way it is. I've always found this character interesting and liked to use him/her in my stories. (Notice how I give you no spoilers? ;-)

* * *

**Volume: 2 Arc: "Interlude of Pertinent Information" 10 Issue: 1/2 )**

** Chapter 66: clone! **

* * *

"I wonder if we could enroll the Shrimps in the school," Laura said thoughtfully. "Maybe we could take out loans in their names, then, to buy their diapers."

She and Julian were sitting cross-legged on the bed, bills, receipts and financial statements spread amongst them. Laura was leaning a pad of ruled paper  
on her knee, and was making a list of expenses to come.

They both look worried.

"I'm sure they'd appreciate that," Julian said sarcastically. "It would be the first ever toddler versus parent lawsuit."

" Maybe we could tape it and send it to some world-record thing for a double cash in." Laura grinned and scribbled something on the paper.

" What was that?"

" Therapy."

" Laura! Be serious, please."

" Oh, all right. It was 'dentist'."

Julian shuddered. "I'm scared to think that these things will have teeth. I swear, one of them bites me, we're keeping them in cages till they're our age."

" Hardly a good time to release them," Laura said mildly.

" Anyways, we could just ask Dr. McCoy about all the health stuff. He hasn't charged you for anything yet." Julian pointed out reasonably.

" I'm sure he doesn't cover everything. For example, I wouldn't want to have him as a gynecologist, for obvious reasons." Laura countered. "No offense to  
Dr. McCoy, but that would just creep me out."

"..." Julian sighed. "Okay, fine."

He started suddenly. "Ow! Okay."

Laura raised her eyebrow.

" Frost wants to see me in her office," he said, getting off the bed. " She suggested I hurry. Want to come?"

**...**

Julian knocked on Emma's door, feeling nervous and trying not to be. What could she want?

Only Laura remembered their involvement with Quire. On her suggestion, they'd stopped to tell the Cuckoos, who were luckily in their room. The sisters had  
temporarily repressed Julian's memory of the events by putting a block.

_Come in,_ Emma instructed them. He opened the door and froze in place, his eyes wide. Laura froze too.

His parents. William and Elizabeth Keller were here.

" Uh..." Julian trailed off, dumbstruck.

" Julian," his mother said softly, her earrings swinging. They seemed to add terrifying emphasis to her gentle tones. "It's been so long. Are you well?"

" ..." Julian stared at her.

Emma Frost looked angry. "Hello, Julian."

" I have nothing to say to these people," he snapped, turning around.

" Julian-" his father.

_Julian._ Emma Frost. He turned around.

"I don't want to talk to them. Send them away."

Mrs. Keller watched him intently.

"Julian..." his father again. He was surprised to see that he looked apologetic.

" They are attempting to withdraw you from the school."

Julian stopped short, his eyes wide. "What?"

Mrs. Keller smiled slightly. "We've missed you, darling. The house is empty without you...and you seem to have control of your powers now. I think it  
would be better if you returned."

Julian blinked. "Fuck _that_."

"Language," his father said, although his words lacked force. Suddenly Laura understood--he didn't want to do this. As cold as the man had been earlier--as  
hurtful as his actions had been--they weren't his. She could see now, in this room, that he loved his son--despite his odd methods of expressing it--he loved Julian.

It was Mrs. Keller who didn't.

"You already disowned me!" Julian said angrily.

" We are going to put you back in the will, dear. It was a knee-jerk reaction." Mrs. Keller tilted her head, her earrings swaying.

" Well, I'm married now, and I have obligations," he said, his eyes narrowed.

"Odd, I do not remember signing any papers allowing that to happen." She paused. Mrs. Keller smiled-a true smile. It was ice cold. " You, my darling, are still a minor,  
and that certificate means nothing without our signatures."

" Mom--" Julian looked afraid now, his eyes open wide; Laura had never seen him look so afraid. She had to reach back into the room to find memories of him with this  
expression--something about Nimrod, and the last moments, before he became Phoenix.

Mrs. Keller stared back at him. They were silent--but Emma glanced at them sharply. Something was going on--Laura would have bet anything that his mother  
was doing something telepathic.

" I--I'll get my things," Julian said uncertainly. He turned to go. Laura was speechless. She blinked. Then...

"Hello, _Madelyne_," Scott said, leaning on the door frame. " It's been a while, hasn't it? Tell me...how's California this time of year?"

Mrs. Keller's eyes widened. She stood up. "Scott-"

Mr. Keller looked up. "Elizabeth?" he asked, uncertain.

"Oh my god," Emma said, sitting straight up. "_Madelyne Pryor!_ I knew! I _knew_ there was something! Why didn't I recognize you immediately?"

Mrs. Keller was silent.

Laura was confused. "Scott? What's going on?"

" May I introduce you...to the clone of Jean Grey-Summers," Scott said grimly. "I've been waiting for her to turn up somewhere. She's quite manipulative.  
I would know...I was married to her at one point."

"..." Julian stared at Mrs. Keller. "Mom?" he asked, confused.

"Oh, HAHAHA!" Laura threw back her head. "Clone!"

" Oh my god." Julian leaned against a bookcase, his head in his hands. "This isn't happening. Please tell me this isn't happening. It's not, right?"

" It is," Scott said, his arms folded. "No wonder she didn't want to come when they brought you here. Heard Jean was out, huh? Didn't realize I'm still here?"

"..." Mrs. Keller-Madelyne-stood up. "I don't have to take this treatment. It's offensive. William, let's--"

Scott held up two fingers. "Not so fast. If I'm correct, you're trying to withdraw Julian from the school. Which is not going to happen." His visor flashed, like it  
sometimes did when he was angry.

" I'm his parent!" Madelyne snapped.

"You're not exactly the most suitable parent. All it takes is one call to Social Services to bring up a certain incident where you sacrificed my child to a fake god." His visor  
flashed again. "Or don't you remember Rachel?"

Everyone stood up with Madelyne. "No one remembers Rachel, because I wouldn't let them," she hissed. "I'll make you forget too, dearest."

"I don't think so," Emma said. "Girls?"

" Wwwwwe're here, Miss Frost," said the Cuckoos in response, from the door.

Madelyne glared. She was telepathically outnumbered.

"I'll call the police here, if you do that," Madelyne said viciously. "I have other, non-mutant influences, you know. I've worked my way up in the world."

Scott raised his eyebrows.

" Madelyne, do you seriously think I'd explain my plan if there was the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I called the authorities twenty five minutes  
ago, when I saw you and Mr. Keller here outside."

" ..." Madelyne looked slightly afraid now. She was in a roomful of telepaths that could completely overwhelm her; and her husband didn't look like he was going to cooperate.

And there _was _quite a file on her.

" What do you want?" she asked, quietly.

" Lots of things," Scott said. "The world to be a better place. A 1930's Ford Coupe. For Rachel to be alive." He paused. "I think you'd better be asking Julian that,  
Madelyne. He's the victim here."

"..." Madelyne glared at her son. "Fine. What do you want, then? I thought I've given you everything you could ever want. You're quite spoiled."

Julian glared right back at her. "Right! You made me think that I was responsible for Rachel dying! You forbid me to have friends! You ruined my education--and you  
disowned me! How the hell am I spoiled?!"

"Vroom vroom," Laura whispered, thinking of his BMW.

" Shut the hell up, asshole," Julian hissed at her. "What do I want, mom? I'm going to stay here. And I'm back in the will. And you're accepting Laura, and our kids, and  
taking care of us. Understand? Oh, yeah, and you're not holding James prisoner anymore."

"A little late for me to do all that, if the authorities are on their way," said Mrs. Keller shrewdly.

"Not too late for Mr. Keller, though," Scott pointed out.

All eyes turned to Julian's father. He cleared his throat.

" Julian...I think you're safer if you're not in our custody anymore," he said, his voice heavy.

" What?" Julian blinked.

" This...I don't trust that things won't go back right the way they were once we step out of this office." William ignored Madelyne's glare. "I think we should give over  
your custody to the school. I will...I will leave you a trust fund. But you're safer without us."

Julian looked like he was going to cry. Laura took his hand. "Do it," she told Scott. "Pick someone she can't find." She pushed him out of the office.

**...**

" Julian, stop," Laura said, her tone disgusted. They were in the garden, on a bench deep inside. She was sitting and Julian was pacing back and forth; he had been  
crying very silently for the past ten minutes, his fists balled up.

"My fuck. Suck it up, princess. You're going to be an adult in a year, anyway."

Julian stopped. He sniffled and laughed at the same time. It sounded strange, choked. Laura always said the right thing, in the wrong way.

"Clone-son," she teased, in the same manner she'd called him whore-son a few times.

"Oh, god." He closed his eyes. "There's one in every generation, huh?"

" Hey, can't help it if the originals were popular. It just means we're good stuff." Laura looked at the window of the Headmaster's office. "They're filling out the  
papers now. They have them in the school because this has happened before."

Julian looked towards the window too. "Who are they picking?"

" Emma's going to do it--for now. She told Scott she doesn't like taking children into her care after the last time she did that."

" The first Hellions." Julian sighed. "Do I have to change my last name?"

" Don't be an idiot," Laura said. " Besides, I've just adjusted to Keller myself...I am _not_ changing it again. You're screwed if you become Frost."

Julian snorted.

"Okay...I guess...it's not so bad. I'm not happy, though." He rubbed his eyes angrily. "Who you think should be my...guardian?"

" I have an idea," Laura said. "Let me make a phone call."


	38. 10: An interlude of p info 2:2 relations

**A/N: **I was reminded of updating this story by my Biology assignment--Mendelian Genetics! YAY! Side note: For speed, I now reply to reviews first on my blog, .com ;  
if you don't want to look at a different site no problem, I'm still posting all answers here anyways. But if you have a question you can check there because it allows me to answer much  
faster (rather than you having to wait till next chapter ;)

**CHAPTER NOTE: **Fun, floofy chapter, some emotional content, establishing characterization, yada yada.

Laura K. Howlett:  
Actually the name-thing is intentional, but not a major plot concern. Laura calls him 'Keller' for the most part, but will call him 'Julian' on rare occasion when she's being 100% serious.  
Or comforting him. Like a parent might use a child's full name. Just one of those little things...It does bring to mind though that she has a tendency to revert to 616 X-23 when  
confronted with extreme stress. It's a natural reaction for her--the best examples were 1) 50-52 'the mark has been made' to 'we're in this together', and 2) 55 'broken'. I'm  
sure more instances will come up. Also: Vol 2 ends with Chapter 80 (a wee little chapter).

zackslacker18:  
Haha, can't tell if you're mad or just saying. Buuut in either case...that is not so! I can't tell too much--plot surprises and all, but Julian is not Cable. He's just Madelyn Pryor's son.  
In this story, Madelyn Pryor did not have Cable for a son--she just had Rachel (Summer's daughter, who died, and it's safe to say now that she sacrificed her), Julian (William Keller's son)  
and James (also William's son). _Note: _I think you might've read the blog. /happydance lol X-D little hint: look back at the kid's names.  
**  
On recons: (random rambling)**  
I've decided to not 100% recon, so I've borrowed some elements from the comics re: family connections, etc, but I haven't kept everything totally true. I mean, this is Julian's  
AU that he created anyway...so some details are understandably different. Makes it a funner, fresher story. I just enjoy connecting some elements with comics (I've heard from  
some people before *coughstraycough* that they hate recons). I don't like total recons either...and Volume 1 of Helix was running on a track where I had to recon a bit too  
much to keep the story running; I prefer Vol 2 because it's more open. I did recon a fair amount with some storylines, but then I tossed in a whole bunch that came from  
who-the-fuck-knows-where. I get alot of my ideas on the bus and walking home. I had another one today about the Shrimps--I totally pictured it. Bad thing is when I start  
laughing in public with no visible reason to be laughing... o.o

* * *

**(Volume: 2 Arc: "An Interlude of Pertinent Information" 10 Issue: 2/2 )**

****** Chapter 67: relations ******

**

* * *

**

Laura suddenly bolted away from Julian as they were walking down the main stairs, on their way to Biology, which was held in the  
East Wing of the building, main level.

" Mom!" she exclaimed. Julian blinked. There was Sarah Kinney, embracing her daughter. Both were all smiles. How weird, like Laura  
just forgot she was still angry at her mother.

Sarah finally let her daughter go. "You're as big as a house," she said, looking at Laura's swell.

Laura wrinkled her nose. "Thanks." Snff. Her eyes widened. "Ohmigod! Megan's here?"

"She wanted to see you," Sarah said. "Her exact words were 'I want to see if I can startle her into premature labor'."

" That's awesome," Laura grinned. " I don't think Keller would be too happy though."

" No, I wouldn't," Julian said. " I'm actually enjoying the last few months of my life, thank you. They're incredibly precious."

Sarah smiled at him and her daughter. "I never got to really congratulate you! I want us to go to dinner. With Logan. He's here, right?"

Julian rubbed his neck. He'd always found it so odd that Laura's mother was so nice, and seemed to actually like him. And that his parents  
had ended up being the complete assholes.

Laura nodded. "I can't promise he'll behave. He's so mean when he talks about you, sometimes."

Sarah smiled gently. "That's okay. I deserve it. He makes me consider my actions carefully. I'd rather he'd come and be angry than not  
come at all. Oh, sweetheart, I missed you!"

She hugged Laura again. "You scared me so much when you called me, that one time, from Mexico."

" I'm sorry," Laura said. "I was...it was really confusing. I'll tell you what happened later, okay? I have class right now."

"Good," Sarah said. "When are you finished?"

" Four. Find Logan and meet us at our room. He knows where it is." Laura waved at her mother, all buttercups and sunshine. Julian grabbed  
her hand when Sarah was out of sight.

" Why are you so nice to her now?" he asked, confused.

Laura frowned. "I...it was the whole Phoenix thing. The room. It showed me some things. I didn't like them. I appreciate Sarah a whole lot more now."

**...**

Julian opened their door, in the middle of a sentence to Laura. "--and could he have said the word 'anus' any more times? I swear to God, he must  
have a fix--" A bucket of pennies had tipped over from the top of the door, and were falling with a tremendous crash to the ground.

"HAHAHA, you screamed like a little girl!" Laura pounded on the doorframe. "That was so awesome, Meggers!"

Her cousin was sitting on the bed, her hands folded. "Damnit, you didn't go into labor. Way to disappoint me."

"I could smell you down the hallway, coz," Laura said, grinning. "I think _Keller_ almost went into labor, though. I'm impressed."

"Shut up." Julian rubbed his neck with a flush. His heart was still thumping. He swept up the pennies with a thought and dropped them into the bucket,  
then slid it to Megan's feet. "Don't play with your life savings," he advised.

"Oho." Megan looked at Laura. "Where'd you find this one? I saw him at Christmas, but you weren't too keen on talking boys then. And, by the way, I  
dumped Chris if you're interested." Megan had known Laura was pregnant, due to an abduction, but not more, as Laura had refused to acknowledge  
Julian during their Christmas visit.

"I'm not," Laura told her bluntly. "And _it_ found _me_. I assure you, I had no choice in the matter. I used every trick we ever learned, and it still wouldn't  
go away. It's a heartwarming story, best saved for graphic descriptions while eating."

Megan looked delighted by this idea.

"How long are you guys staying?" Julian asked, feeling he wasn't going to enjoy this too much. One Laura was enough, he didn't need her sidekick too.

"Forever. I'm moving in with you guys," Megan teased.

"Good. You can be our cameraman for the sex tape we're trying to leak onto the school website. Brought your camcorder?"

"Laura!" Julian glared at the girl. She cackled.

"I always have it," Megan said seriously. "I'm determined to win a best-gag contest. Can we use your male unit as a test dummy?"

"You wish," Julian said, throwing his books down on his chair. "How did you get in anyways? I locked the door."

Megan held up a credit card. "I'm a professional, no worries."

"She taught me everything I know about jacking cars," Laura grinned. "OH MY GOD! Get this...you will not believe it...that yellow BMW, a few years  
back? It. Was. His!" She pointed at Julian.

"HAHAHAHA!" Megan had a similar laugh to Laura's. "Oh, my god...we totally trashed that thing. My favorite part was when we drove it right through  
the bakery and I grabbed those cinnamon buns..."

"Mmm, cinnamon buns," Laura said. "Yes, I remember. You worked them into the back seat in counter-clockwise motions..."

Julian glared at the girls. "If you fucking touch my car..."

"Our car, darling," Laura said, with a pleasant smile that scared the shit out of him. "I didn't notice you ask for a pre-nup."

"Laura!"

"Ohmigod--woah woah, you married him?!" Megan stood up. "What the hell is wrong with you, Laura?! We were unstoppable! Like Thelma and Louise!  
You swore to me that that was how we'd go out too!"

"Look at it this way--I have a car now to do that with," Laura grinned.

"Laura!" Julian kept falling for her bait because he had no doubt she could get it in her head to do something just like that. He stood up and summoned  
their jackets from across the room. "Aren't we supposed to meet the rest of your fucked-up family outside?"

"Mhmm." Laura held out her hands, and he tossed her jacket over.

"Does he do tricks?" Megan asked.

"Totally," Laura said. "He'll do anything for sex. Watch this, it's awesome." She grabbed his car keys, sitting on the table beside her, and hurled them  
out the window. "Keller, FETCH!"

"ARRGH!" Julian ran to the window, shoving her out of the way, and just caught the keys before they disappeared from sight. "Laura...what the hell  
is wrong with you?!"

"Oh boy--craft activity! Let's make a list! I'll get the materials, you dictate!" Megan said, excited. "I've been asking her that for years. In admiration, of course."

Julian rolled his eyes, jamming the keys in his pocket and zipping it up with a very final sound while glaring at Laura; she fluttered her eyelashes at him  
and pulled on her own jacket. "Let's just pretend that didn't happen, and go," he growled at her.

**...**

"HELL NO!" Julian said, grabbing the keys again from Laura (who had somehow pick-pocketed him during a kiss in the hallway). "And you are _not_ sitting together.  
Your cousin in the backseat. You in the front, where I can keep my eye on you. _NOW_."

"Ohh, I like it when you're dominant," Laura teased. "Such a nice change."

Logan folded his arms, in the back seat already, beside Sarah. He did not like sitting beside her, at all. She had tried to smile at him hopefully. She wanted to  
be friends. Fuck _that_. He was coming along only for Laura, who had appealed to his earlier decision of 'no' with a little girl pout. He couldn't say no to her when  
she pleaded. She wanted a nice family dinner, she'd said, where she could pretend she wasn't 'just another clone'. For once in her life.

Manipulative little wench she was.

"Get in the car, Laura," Julian ordered sternly.

She rolled her eyes and complied. "Seatbelt," he snapped.

"Oh, god, fine--_mom_." Laura fastened the strap with an amplified click, glaring at him like a small, displeased child. Megan grinned in the backseat, leaned  
forward and--_thwip_--flicked Julian's ear. He closed his eyes, ignored it and started the car.

**...**

"Oh, my god, they have lobster," Laura hissed, looking over Julian's shoulder at his menu. "Order it."

"Order it yourself," he replied, flicking the page irritably. Laura had been acting impossible again, this whole week; the only thing that kept him going was the knowledge  
that the pressure would more than probably reach breaking point.

Which was usually quite memorable.

"You know if I have a whole lobster, I'll throw up," Laura mumbled in his ear.

"I don't feel like seafood."

"Someone here has to order lobster," Laura announced to the table. "Or I'll puke. Projectile vomit. I swear, I'll do it. I trained the babies."

Logan stared at her, distracted from his annoyance at Sarah. "Kid..."

"Isn't it weird how if one person pukes, everyone around them feels like puking too?" Megan grinned. She loved bothering people. "Do you think it's the smell, or the  
appearance? Or is it the sound of gagging?"

"Megan, please," Sarah said calmly. "Laura, you could have asked nicely and I would be more than happy."

Laura rolled her eyes. "Sorry," she said a moment later.

"It's okay. There were many foods I wanted but couldn't eat when I was having you...I understand."

Logan eyed her warily. He had been silent for the whole ride here and the seating, his only words a grunt of 'thanks' to the Maître de. Julian felt awkward. He kept  
forgetting that the man was part of Laura's family-even though she was his clone. And that now he was a part of his too. He had Wolverine for an in-law.

Joy.

"Did you have trouble with penile-shaped objects? That's what really sets me off."

"LAURA!" Sarah. Julian covered his face with his hand.

"A dinner's not a dinner if you don't mention p--"Megan started, but Julian kicked her under the table, in the shin. "Ow!" she yelped instead.

Logan sighed. Kids. Why was he working at a school? Kids annoyed the fuck out of him. And now-although not through any fault of her own (or so Hank said), Laura  
was making more. He wasn't sure how involved he'd have to be-hopefully not very. He cared for Laura, but she could be quite wearing. He almost felt sorry for Keller,  
who already had his hands full with the girl herself.

Almost.

Megan and Laura were whispering again. Laura giggled, and the hair on the back of Julian's neck stood up.

"What are you guys planning?" he accused.

"We're gonna order ten of the most expensive things on the menu, take a forkful of everything, then go smoke a joint in the washroom and climb out the window,"  
Laura said, her tone completely serious. "Thereby leaving you to pay the bill. You want to come, Logan?"

"No thanks, half-pint," he grunted. "They got beer here?"

**...**

An hour later, when everyone was busy eating, Laura waved the waiter over with a cunning look. She leaned, cupped her hand to his ear, and began whispering hurriedly.

Logan stared at her, hearing every word.

"We couldn't--" the waiter began.

"I assure you, he has an excellent sense of humor," Laura whispered back, with a confident nod and a wink.

She couldn't be serious. He'd thought she and Megan were joking when they'd talked about it earlier.

**...**

Logan covered his face with one hand, as Laura and Megan stared at each other, trying to conceal laughter. A very old, cranky looking man-sitting alone across the room,  
eating spaghetti, was being approached by the restaurant staff--with a birthday cake that had a hundred and fifty candles and a tombstone marker made out of icing.

"That's it, I can't take this any longer," he grunted, throwing his napkin down. "I'm going for a smoke."

Julian stared at him--then followed his gaze, glancing over his shoulder. The cake had nearly reached its target.

"I'll join you," he said. He knew--he could feel it coming--Laura had tied him into this somehow. He saw her grin.

"You don't smo--" Logan began.

"I do now," Julian cut him off, almost knocking a chair out of his way in his haste to escape. He could hear the waiters begin to address the old man. _Oh my god._ He beat Logan  
to the doors just as his name was called; he didn't turn around.

**...**

"Having trouble with my clone, huh?" Logan asked when he'd lit his cigarette.

Julian was leaning on the railing, trying not to be annoyed and failing. What was even more annoying was that it _was_ funny. He wanted to laugh and shout nasty things  
at Laura--at the same time. And break stuff.

"You piss her off or somethin'?"

"No, she's always like this," Julian mumbled. "It's an occupational hazard."

"Damn." Logan blew out a smoke cloud. "Surprised you put up with it."

"What else am I supposed to do?" Julian asked, his hand in his hair.

Logan grunted. No, it was a small laugh. "Heh. You'll figure it out, kid."

"Soon, I hope." Julian looked down.

Logan squinted at the parking lot. "Hey--kid--isn't that your car?"

Julian started and stared at his car. It had toilet paper all over it, with hearts made out of silly string. It also sported the words "_David + Julian 4ever_".

"...she went to use the washroom! She was gone two minutes! How the hell...GRR!" Julian stomped into the parking lot, the gravel crunching under his  
boots. He swept his hand over the car hood, and all the ornaments followed, sliding off the finish.

"Nice," Logan said from the patio, his arms folded.

"I learned to wax it after the first time," Julian said, in a flat voice.

**...**

"Laura-I have something to ask you," Sarah said, at the same time Laura said "Mom, could you do me a favor?"

They smiled at each other. Megan gawked. "Since when are you smiling at her?!" she asked in awe. "I thought you hated her."

"Be quiet, Meggers," Laura said, without looking at her cousin. "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Or something like that."

Sarah ignored the fact that Laura had just effectively called her a fly.

"You first," she said to her daughter.

"Well-it's hard to explain. But...I guess...in plain words...Keller's parents disowned him," Laura said bluntly.

"Oh," Sarah said, frowning. "That's terrible. Why would they do something like that?"

"Why _wouldn't_ they do something like that?" Megan asked, holding up her finger.

"I agree. He's only the biggest disappointment ever," Laura said, nodding. "I don't know why he bothers being alive. Seriously. He's a waste of  
air and space. I've been thinking about using him in the room as a decorating fixture."

Megan snorted. "Paint him hot pink and make him hold your cheetah-print bathrobe."

"Ohmigod! I just might!" Laura smiled evilly. "But, anyways, he needs a legal guardian to be allowed to stay at the school. I did some eavesdropping...his  
mother got her revenge by bribing Social Services into making his an 'urgent' case. Emma took him for a bit...but they're now getting her. She had a class  
of kids die under her care before. Anyways. I tried Logan...but, you know him."

"I'll do it," Sarah said. "I'll speak with Headmistress Frost tomorrow. You should really refer to the teachers by their proper titles, Laura. It isn't right to call  
people you don't know intimately by their first names."

"Sez _you_," Megan answered for Laura.

"Megan."

Sarah cleared her throat. "Laura...I'm considering moving out here."

This stunned both girls. "WHAT?!" Megan recovered first. "You can't be serious! Your house is the best place to hide my crack!"

Sarah closed her eyes. "I don't want to intrude on your privacy...I thought there was a chance that you might want help, in the future."

"I--I don't know," Laura said, confused. She liked the idea--at the same time she hated it. She sat back. "Can I get back to you?"

"Of course," Sarah said. "Take your time. It's...been lonely, without you."

She smiled sadly at her daughter.

"Oh, my god, she's using a guilt trip! LAURA, RUN!" Megan exclaimed. Laura made a horrified face, slammed her chair out of the way and bolted for the doors.

Sarah sighed as Megan hunched over, slapping the table.

"_SHE LOOKS LIKE A DUCK_!" Megan squeaked after a moment.

**...**

"Laura. You can't keep doing this to me." Julian sat on the bed, his elbows on his knees. "You're impossible, sometimes."

She brushed her hair at the dresser, grinning. "You're a big boy, Keller. And you picked on everyone in this school for far too long before I got here."

"Oh, my god. Laura...we're kind of past that stage. I'm trying to grow up--aren't you?"

She frowned and shook her head.

"The only people who keep trying grow up are children," she said bluntly.

Julian looked down. He tried to calm himself with the idea that she would, in enough time, be busy with real children--and too occupied to think about  
how she could make _his_ life miserable.

"So my mother made this wonderful offer, to move here. She promised to snoop whenever possible, and hand-fold my underwear and socks, and live with  
one eyeball to the keyhole. How would that sound to you?"

"Just what I needed?" Julian asked, stretching out on the bed and folding his arms behind his head. "Are you serious--did she really offer?"

"Yes." Laura looked at her brush in her hands. "I...I told her I'd think about it."

"Are you crazy? Of course she should. We need all the help we can get."

Laura grinned. "If you mean therapy, I agree."

Julian closed his eyes. "Laura..."

"I don't know how to feel! I'm still mad at her." Laura frowned. "But I got all mixed up by that...thing...that happened. In the...in the other place, she was  
dead, and I missed her a lot. Here..."

"It's always easier to not be angry, Laura," Julian stated calmly. "Anger takes too much time and energy."

"You speak from experience," Laura said snidely.

"Yeah, well." He grinned at her. "I didn't say I wasn't a bit of a hypocrite. Someone once told me that all strong leaders are."

"A bit? Keller, you're so hypocritical that, by that proportion, you're a really weak leader," Laura grinned. "I'd say anemic, even."

"Come here, asshole." Julian sat up, caught her arm, and pulled her closer.


	39. 11: riot at xavier's 1:3 a long night

**A/N: **Special treat...for the next few days I'm going to be double posting on this story, a bit. I want it to be up to Vol 3 when I return from my trip (I'm offline Dec 18-Jan 6).  
I'm worried this will mean less reviews :-( I like reviews! But so be it...I am determined to tell my story then leave quickly. For a little while at least!

* * *

**Volume: 2 Arc: "Riot at Xavier's" 11 Issue: 1/3 )**

****** Chapter 68: a long night ******

**

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**

_**TOMORROW NIGHT,**_ Quire grinned at Julian in telepathy class, who started. He'd almost forgotten his mission in the confusion with his parents and  
Laura's mother; it all came back to him now. He nodded, noting that the boy's telepathic messages were becoming too loud, too forceful.

He was slipping.

**...**

"Laura--tomorrow night," Julian said as he opened the door. Megan sat up on the bed; she'd been lying beside Laura, planning some God-Awful Thing.

"What's tonight?!" she demanded to know.

"Super-Secret Superhero Stuff," Laura said. "Try saying _that_ ten times fast."

"I want in!" Megan said.

"No!" Julian said, frustrated.

"What? Are you excluding me?"

"Yes, Meggers," Laura said, rolling her eyes. "Based on the fact that you have less power than Granny Smith's purse mints."

"Eww! I hated those things! They were always furry...and we had to eat them to be polite...God, I was so mad at mom for making me go over to her house...  
do you remember when we were nine and we broke her piano by sitting on it?"

"Spare me," Julian said.

"I'm still coming," Megan declared. "I can hold your super-gear. OHH, I can camcord you! And then we'll sell the tape. Like, to CNN or something."

"You will not," Julian clobbered her mentally with a pillow.

"HEY! That's CHEATING!" Megan yelled from underneath, sounding muffled.

"Whatever." Julian dropped his books on the floor and then flipped a page on his day planner (which he'd left on the desk). "Oh, haha. '12:00 Kiss Cyclops' Ass,  
1:00 Bottom for Robots in Danger Room, 2:00 Suck David Off For Help With Book Lernins '." He tore the page out and crumpled it in his hand.

Laura and Megan cackled from the bed.

"I'm going to apply for a divorce, on the grounds that my partner is insane and needs help, very, _very_ badly." Julian glared at Laura.

"Go ahead! You'll end up giving me your car, and paying child support," Laura grinned. "You know I'll be shopping for three."

Julian fetched some clothes from the closet, then slammed the bathroom door.

The girls looked at each other. Laura started giggling as she heard the toilet seat go up.

"So clever," he called a few moments later. "Saran wrap. You're cleaning this up, you know."

**...**

"I feel like such an idiot," Laura grumbled, folding her arms as they reached Quire's door. "I'm fat, and I'm wearing stripes. I look like a bumblebee." She'd pulled  
the rugby shirt over her head as they neared Quire's room. Julian had to admit she was right, but he tried to lie anyways. "Don't be ridiculous. You look beautiful."

"You couldn't even keep a straight face saying that," Laura pointed out as he knocked on the door.

"I did so," Julian said. Then he grinned. "You're right. This shit is..." the door opened, and Quire peered out.

"Thought you weren't gonna show," he said, his voice raspy. His eyes were bloodshot. Snff. Laura analyzed that he'd had two doses of Kick already in the past  
four hours. "Thought you chickened out," Quire added.

"No, we're all for superiority over the flatscans," Laura said. "Are we going to stand here, admiring how _cool_ we are in our striped shirts, or are you going to let us in?"

Quire scowled and held open the door. "Guess where we're going tonight."

**...**

"Tattoos? Seriously, Quire?" Julian stared at the sign. _Mutatoo_, it said, in big neon letters.

Laura looked away, dimpling with suppressed laughter. Not only was it a stupid idea-but she thought Julian would wet his pants. He was such a sissy when it came to pain.

"Aw, man! We're gonna look like a bunch of frat boys!" Redneck said, not looking pleased. "Do we really, really hafta? I mean..."

"No buts," said Quire firmly. "We're doing this. Anyone without one-won't be one of us. Got it?"

"Got it," said Glob Herman obediently. Tattoo looked excited-her brother looked neutral. Laura didn't care-tattoos lasted for about two hours on her skin and washed  
off in the shower. She'd gotten over fifteen in her adolescence, trying different methods to attempt to make them stick, to no avail. She'd asked Logan once, but  
apparently he had the same problem too. He'd gone on to add that getting a tattoo was a good way to impress a date.

**...**

Julian gritted his teeth as the needle hit a thin area of skin near the bone. They were putting some sort of Omega sign over an X onto his arm. He'd be damned if he'd let  
tears leak out--Laura was waiting, ready to point and laugh. And he was sure she'd find a way to mention it to the entire school.

Finally it was over. He hoped he'd be able to get it out some way when they were done with this 'mission'. He didn't fancy living the rest of his life with Quire's codenamed  
tattooed on his forearm.

Redneck's turn. He sat, without pulling any facial expressions; Julian felt stupid. He'd been patting himself on the back for not running out of the establishment when he'd  
seen the ink gun--he hated needles.

"Let me guess..." the tattoo artist said, towards the end of Redneck's design. "...you're some sissy Emo band."

Quire made a sound. The artist got up, carrying his rags away in his hands. His arms had little tentacles all over them. "You're suburban Neo-Nazis." he continued. "Frat boys on dope!"

"I told you this is what we'd look like!" Redneck said. "What did I say?! We're gonna look like a bunch of frat boys!"

"I'll tell him what we are," Quire said calmly. "Everybody's heard of the X-men, right? Well, we're the next generation. Like on TV. The improved version."

He pulled out a Kick inhaler from his pocket, inserted it in his mouth, and depressed the plunger.

"We're the new X-men," he said, grinning. "Come on, we have a mission."

**...**

"Here!" Quire shouted to Julian, who was flying them over an empty road.

"You sure?" he asked, his eyebrows raised. There was absolutely nothing of interest here-it seemed like a nice area of town.

"Don't talk back to me," Quire snapped. "Just do it."

They landed, and Quire walked over to a manhole cover, looking excited. "Here. Oh yeah, here. We're gonna teach 'em what the meaning of fear is!" He hooked his fingers  
into the lid and pulled it off, then threw it aside. It landed on the pavement and made several spinning revolutions.

Laura eyed him warily. "You're kidding," she said. She could smell the stench from here. Julian stiffened-if she couldn't handle laundry-

"Do I _look_ like I'm kidding?!" Quire leapt down into the hole; Laura mimed replacing the cover, and the others grinned. Then Glob Herman ran to the edge and disappeared;  
the rest followed. "Oh...fine," Laura grumbled.**  
**

**...**

"This is nice," Quire said, grinning at the U-men. "We're you're worst nightmare, you know...vengeful mutants on drugs." He leaned over to the man in the gas-suit that Redneck  
was holding down. "Why would you want to be like us? I mean, really. It's not easy being a mutant, brother."

Glob Herman giggled.

"People like you exterminate us, murder our artists, cut out our organs and stick them into your own diseased bodies...our leaders and teachers expect us to be 'reasonable',  
stare at our shoes and do nothing."

He leaned closer to the U-man, his fingers going to a screw on the man's neckpiece.

"But I don't think Homo Inferior should have any right to mess up the future the way they've messed up the past."

"...don't hurt me," the U-man said, terrified.

"Agree with me," Quire hissed, releasing the screw. Air hissed out. Redneck pulled off the hood.

"I can't touch the ground...I have to breathe pure air...it's my religion, please...I can't touch the fallen world until it's made perfect..." he was sweating.

"Get some kick into your lungs, Redneck, my man! Gimme five-bar electric death!" Tattoo shouted, shoving a Kick inhaler into Redneck's mouth and depressing the plunger. He made a raspy sound.

"I spent the last of my savings on this suit...please don't ruin it..." the U-man said.

"You're not a religion. You're a cannibal freak who met some like-minded losers in a seedy chatroom and decided to create a do-it-yourself species...using pieces of our people.  
Citizen Redneck? Citizen Herman?" Quire turned to his followers. Laura, who had been holding her nose, made a face of disgust. She knew what was coming--she glanced at  
Julian, who had realized, suddenly, that they might be a little over their heads. All the rest of the Omegas were low-key...but if they went against Quire...it probably  
wouldn't go well for them.

"New X justice," Quire said.

"Hey Quentin...you want we should tell this guy what Herman's made from...before it's too late for him to hear?" Redneck was holding his hands under Glob Herman's waxy ones.

"You mean Bio-Paraffin? Living wax?" Quire said, giggling.

"_**EEEEAAAUUU**_" the U-man began making horrible noises, his skin bubbling off his bones.

"The world hasn't fallen, you ignorant ape...it's a garden of Eden made for mutants!" Quire finished. He nodded at Tattoo, who pulled out the spray can and made the Omega  
initials; then he turned to Julian.

"Take us up," he hissed. Julian did so, his face pale. Laura held up her hand to him, popped one claws and walked over to the U-man still making inhuman noises of pain on the ground.  
The gravel was entering his molten flesh. She drew her index claw across his windpipe. His eyes slid shut. She examined the other U-men on the ground; most were unconscious,  
one was dead, and one other needed terminating. She complied, then ran to the ladder and climbed out.

**...**

"Keller...we need to tell."

They were in their room again. Julian sitting on the edge of the bed, Laura on the chair. Both felt sickened by what they'd seen, and neither had spoken a word for the rest of the evening.

"..." Julian rested his cheek on his hand and stared at her glumly. "We'd be in so much trouble...it's not going exactly the way we planned it."

"If we tell now...maybe the punishment will be less."

"Maybe." Julian didn't sound convinced.

"Keller! Tomorrow's the school's Open Day. Do you really think there's a chance that Quire doesn't have something planned?"

"Not really, no," Julian rubbed his neck. "Wait-what about the squads?"

"What about the squads?" Laura parroted.

"Well, we could get something ready...if he does make a move."

"This is _so_ not a good idea," Laura said, but she didn't offer further protest; she followed him out of the room, as they started 'recruiting'.

**...**

"Hunh--?" Professor Xavier opened his chamber door, after a delightful evening out with Emma Frost, the Stepford Cuckoos, and Hank. They'd gone to see a live play,  
and he'd laughed himself silly. It was really delightful, how much fresh talent could be seen at plays these days.

_**WHACK!**_

He stumbled to the floor, the back of his skull exploding in red pain. Sprawling headlong, his eyes fluttered as he began to fall unconscious, noting there seemed to be  
several children in the room with him.


	40. 11: riot at xavier's 2:3 open day

**A/N: **Annnd just as promised, a double feature. Enjoy! ;-D

**

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Volume: 2 Arc: "Riot at Xavier's" 11 Issue: 2/3 )**

 **Chapter 69: open day ****  


* * *

**

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" Quentin Quire.

Professor Xavier struggled to raise his head. He couldn't see—he had a metal helmet on, suffocating his thoughts. Like a big  
blanket on a fire, smothering it.

"Professor Xavier, you taught us to think outside the box. Do you remember doing that?" Quentin paused. "You encouraged us  
to think new thoughts, develop new ideas, and find new solutions to old problems."

"So we did. The helmet's based on Magneto's telepathy-proof technology…you couldn't think into his helmet and you can't think  
out of this one." He crinkled something in his hand. It sounded like a chip bag, or something.

"All your rhetoric about man/mutant brotherhood sounded really inspiring when I was thirteen, Professor, but I grew up…and the  
world looks different when you're a little taller. Your 'dream' has failed the mutant race at every turn, Professor."

Scuffling. Feet walking away.

"Humans can't be reasoned with. And the only thing we haven't actually tried yet is Magneto's way—total extermination of the  
human race. The school gates open to the public in two hours, Professor..."

"Look," Glob Herman's unique voice said. A door creaking—the secret opening on the bookcase.

"Secret X-Labssss," a girl hissed. "I smell Kick."

**…**

"We better hurry," Julian said, yanking his glove on. "The school opens in two hours."

Laura nodded. "I'm ready."

He followed her to the door, into the hall, and was relieved to see a few of the other squad members waiting. Sofia and Josh were there already;  
Cessily, and Santo…and Nori and David were coming up the passage.

"'Bout _time_ we did something," Nori grinned, rubbing her gloves together with a noisy screech. "Can't wait to take that creep Quire down." She'd  
been outraged by the story.

"It won't be that easy," Julian warned her. "He's an omega-level telepath. He's almost stronger than the Professor. If the Cuckoos don't show,  
there's no way we're going to pull this off."

Everyone looked at him, alarmed, except for Laura and David, who nodded. "Quire is incredibly strong. I can't stand to be beside him for more than  
five minutes…he thinks 10 million thoughts per second. It's like having a bee hive in my head."

"_Yuck_," Cessily said. "Kevin's coming too. He was adjusting something in his glove when he left." She smiled sadly at Julian. "I never get to  
see you anymore!"

Julian opened his mouth to point out that he was mad at them for not quitting the squad with him, but Santo beat him to it.

"Dude…didn't you hear? The Hellions are on strike." He grinned. "Where have you been?"

"Oh." Julian flushed, feeling bad for doubting them. "I kinda had some shit come up."

"You didn't know?" Cessily asked. "I thought Santo told you."

"I forgot," he grumbled. Cessily kicked him in the shin.

"OW!" A piece of rock crumbled off; he glared at her, picked it up, and plugged it back in place. "Stop doing that, Cess. You suck!"

"Na-uh," she said.

"Hhhhhello," a chorus of voices said from the hall. The Cuckoos. Their eyes were burning bright. "Fffffinally, Quentin Quire is going to be stopped.  
We've waited for this…we, too, believed that he would try something on Open Day."

"And spoil our lovely plans!" Celeste added.

"Hi, girls," Santo grinned. The Cuckoos looked disgusted.

"_Eeeeeww!_ It spoke to us!" they said as one.

Julian sighed. "Let's go outside, with the rest of the students. Cuckoos, you keep on the alert for Quire...broadcast to us if you find something."

**…**

Laura whipped around as she heard a voice calling her name in the crowd. Her eyes widened as she saw her mother, and Megan.

"Mom! You shouldn't be here!" She was afraid. She'd forgotten, after last night, that her mother and cousin were in the area, too distracted. She didn't  
know what was going to happen…two humans at the school when Quire was on an anti-human rampage…

Glass shattering. She looked up, towards the school.

"_**PROFESSOR X IS OUR HOSTAGE! WE'RE HIJACKING THE CORRUPT AND REACTIONARY XAVIER INSTITUTE!" **_Quire bellowed through a bullhorn,  
leaning out of a broken upper story window on the fourth floor._** "WE DEMAND NOTHING LESS THAN YEAR ZERO FOR MUTANTKIND! TRY THE  
HUMANS FOR THEIR CRIMES! SCHOOL'S OUT!**_"

"Oh boy," Julian said, looking up.

"_**RIIIIOT!!!!!!!!**_" Quire screamed.

"I think we should be up there," Laura said.

Glob Herman appeared at the window. "HEY! I am Herman, the living weapon!" he shouted, firing dollops of flaming wax downwards. They hit the pavement  
with spectacular explosions; people started screaming and running around them. The teachers were scrambling to respond; Frost had turned diamond, and  
was moving towards the school now.

And people were starting to riot. "Inside, now!" Julian shouted, grabbing Laura's hand and pulling her towards the school doors.

" Children! _NO_!" Frost shouted behind them, but she was in diamond form, and didn't especially feel like risking her own neck to stop them mentally. They  
raced up the stairs, passing Logan, who was leaning in the corner—and came face to face with Quire and his gang at the top.

"Citizen Hellion—Citizen X-23—how good to see you," Quentin grinned snidely. " Still pretending to be part of the Omegas? Never mind that—I won't let you."

"Hyyruk," Julian staggered against the wall, and Laura fell to her knees, gritting her teeth. They'd both been hit by something powerful and confusing; Julian  
was staring at his hands, as if fascinated by them. Laura pushed her hair out of her face, beginning to recover. She still saw unicorns.

A flight down, Logan had started talking to Quire.

" About as far as this, bub," he said calmly. " I know it'll hurt, but I gotta say it…your speeches are even more pompous than Charlie's. Acting superior when  
you're just confused never won anybody any prizes."

"Oh, is that so, Wolverine." Quire was equally calm.

" You're shaking, kid." Logan surveyed him. "Do yourself some hard thinking before blood starts pouring outta this drug-induced prank you started."

Quire continued descending. "It's not a prank, it's a mutiny against Charles Xavier's destructive lies. Hard thinking?" He grinned. "You know that nagging thought  
in the back of your head, Mister Logan?"

Logan crumpled suddenly, looking up in terror. "_Waurrrnnh…you sure got some stones, kid…_"

" Yeah, I definitely got yours, sir," Quire said. " That thought's got so loud you can't think past it, right?"

"_Wolverine_." Redneck stared at Quire. " That's _Wolverine_ you just messed with, you suicidal genius. He'll hunt you down…"

" No, he won't, Redneck…that's just his image, it doesn't matter anyway. What we do here will never be forgotten."

They disappeared around the turn. Laura shook Julian by his shoulders. "Snap out of it!" she said, struggling against the idea that he was a care bear. "We  
have to stop them!"

"_Kid_…" Logan called up, his voice wavering. Laura ran to the railing.

"Xavier…they got…Xavier…set him free….nooo Wose! The water makes me blotchy like a snapping tuwtle!"

Laura turned back to Julian and slapped him hard. He shook his head; the pain focused him somewhat. "Come _on!_ We're going upstairs!" She ran up the stairs,  
taking them two at a time, towards Xavier's office. The door was open, and she and Julian watched, their mouths open, as the Professor threw back his head,  
crying. He was sitting in a chair, his hands bound behind his back, a piece of duct tape over his mouth…and a metal, Magneto-esque helmet clamped firmly  
over his head.

"Sir?" Julian asked uncertainly.

The Professor turned his head towards them. Laura moved into the room and pulled the helmet off, her expression grim. " Did they give you an apple-shine,  
too?" she asked seriously.

Professor Xavier stared at her._ **Oh**,_ he said, seeing her thought. She'd once pulled a prank with Megan on a sleeping bald man in a train station, involving a jar of  
turtle wax and a buffing rag. _**Hardly. Thank you, my dear…come, we shall put an end to this.**_ He stood, his shoulders square, and Laura cut the bindings on  
his hands. Then his two students followed him out of the room.

**…**

"_**AURRR!**_" Everyone held their heads for a moment; Quire had set off some sort of telepathic bomb. Standing beside the Professor, Julian and Laura were somewhat  
shielded; Sofia ran up to them, her eyes wide. "They're _killing!_ Three students are dead, and they've taken humans hostage!"

_**Dear God,**_ Xavier said, his mental voice horribly calm. Frost met them at the door, still in diamond form. Her clothes were tattered, and she looked tired. "Herman has  
set fire to the grounds. Hellion, you should…" her eyes suddenly narrowed on the boy—rather, his arm. "_Hellion._"

Julian started—his tattoo was showing. "I—I can explain later. I have nothing to do with what's going on."

_**Later, Emma, **_the Professor said. _**Quentin Quire is going to prove formidable enough without our fighting amongst ourselves.**_

They stepped out into the fray. The X-men—the _real_ X-men, in their black and yellow suits—were fighting on the lawn to control the rioting students. It was chaos.  
Powers flashed everywhere—blue, yellow, red, purple, pink—electricity—wind—water—ice—curls of turf were lifting up—and people were screaming and holding their heads.  
Quire was standing on the steps and directing the telepathic attacks, like a composer at an orchestra. Everywhere he pointed, people would crouch, hold their heads for  
a moment, then renew their rioting, harder and more crazed than ever.

"So much for the dream!" Quire screamed, ripping a banner off the door above him. "All my life I've waited for this 'dream' to come true! We were promised peace and  
security! All my life! Where _is_ it?!"

Quire turned around to face the oncoming Professor and the mutants around him. "This place has taught me nothing but what it was like to run and fight and hide and—"

Sofia rose into the air, suddenly making tornadoes as Quire steered her away.

_**You could have submitted your critique in the form of an essay, Quentin. That helmet proved as flimsy as your plan.**_

"Big joke," Quire hissed, pulling the whip out of his belt. He slashed it at the ground before Xavier's feet. "I can see all around your thoughts from every angle, Professor. I  
know I've made you question all those big assumptions you just take for granted. Hand over the school to the students. We don't need the kind of education that turns us  
into _victims_."

_**You've caused some property damage and hurt some people terribly and irrevocably, but it's over now…the revolution lasted minutes, Quentin. These drugs  
you're taking are driving your thoughts too hard and too fast.**_

_**RRRAWWWWWWWWWWWRLLL**_ Quire did something that sounding like a wildcat screaming in their minds. Everyone except the Professor cringed and grabbed their heads.

_**Perhaps it's only you who feels like a victim, Quentin,**_ the Professor said.

Quire stretched out his hand to the Professor and flipped him the bird, then twisted his fingers. Xavier began cringing, too; he struggled to fight the attack.

"Now, Quentin, it's rude to broadcast." Frost had turned back to her human form—she put her hands on Julian's temples. "Excuse me, darling…I know a _lovely_ little trick  
with telekinetics."

"_Hurrk—_" Julian made a funny noise, and suddenly a huge green splash of energy shot from his forehead to Quire's, who grabbed his temples in pain.

"Thank you," Emma said, pushing Julian away. "You _do_ make an excellent tool. Incidentally, I will be seeing you in my office once all this kerfuffle is over. You have some  
atrocities to answer to, Mr. Keller."

"_**EEEUARR!**_" Quire finally shouted. " That fuckin' hurt, you little…"

_**GIRLS!**_ Professor Xavier shouted suddenly, ripping the duct tape off his mouth.

"NO!"

The Stepford Cuckoos were marching towards them, their faces eerie in the floating debris. The fifth Cuckoo was merely a floating image, a face in a helmet. Sophie.

Quire's eyes widened. "_Shit_," he said in a small voice.

Frost turned and ran, back into the mansion.

"I suppose you think this is some big fight between…ng…ng…between youth and experience? Anarchy and authority?" Sophie's image asked.

" People like you always miss the point, Quentin Quire," she continued.

" It's all about." Mindee.

" In." Celeste.

" Versus ' out'." Phoebe.

Esme was silent.

Quire struggled against the wind. Sofia had flown off; this was no longer her doing. This was some sort of weird psychic energy.

"…I started up my own movement and everything…so you'd look up to me…" he said, sounding uncertain.

" _Eeeeewww._" The Cuckoos said together. And then…and then something happened. In layers, Quire flew backwards—his clothed body—his naked body—his  
muscular system—his skeletal system—his nervous system. When he hit the ground, he was twitching, blood seeping out of the corners of his mouth.

" Frrthth…shuch…" he said. "Jgg…" he curled into a fetal position, holding his head. "…I didn't mean it…I just wanted to change things and be famous or  
something…because I was adopted…and...I don't even know anymore…I don't even know…I didn't want to hurt anyone…"

" Then you didn't think this through at all, did you, Mister Quire?" Frost hissed. She was back in diamond form, and carrying the dead figure of Sophie Cuckoo in  
her arms. She looked furious.

"S-s-sophie?" Quire asked, his eyes wide.

The other Cuckoos were clutching the backs of their heads, trying to sort through their thoughts. They'd felt it, the moment Sophie had died.

Xavier was staring at the girl in horror. Then he turned to Julian and Laura, who were watching with open mouths. "Go. Control the damage. We will talk later."

**…**

"Take that!" Megan was shouting, lifting a news truck over her head. Laura started and grabbed Julian's hand—he turned, and caught it in midair before it  
could hit the target—Redneck.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Laura asked, running towards her cousin, whose eyes were white. Megan still had a Kick inhaler in her hand.

"Helping you," she said, grinning. "This is awesome! I want to always be able to do this!"

"It's a _neuro-toxin_!" Laura said angrily, trying to snatch the bottle from her cousin. Her tune had changed remarkably—Julian could remember her wanting to take it  
herself, just a little while ago. He lowered the truck to the ground, levitating a few inches upwards himself in a sort of balancing effect.

Glob Herman reached over the crowd and shot several globs of burning wax. One hit Megan in the back; she cried out. Laura popped her claws, but her cousin ripped  
her burning shirt off, showing her skin was unmarked.

"Stupid move," she said, charging Herman before Laura could stop her. High-pitched screams rang out, and a splatter of wax shot up like a fountain over the crowd  
of riot around them.

"He had it coming," Julian said, shrugging.

"_**AHHHHHHHH!**_"

Laura's head whipped around at her mother's voice. Her eyes widened. She turned and ran towards the bloody grass, her eyes wide. "MOM," she said in horror, but  
Logan was already there, lifting up Sarah's torso. She was choking on something—blood—she had a big fragment of wooden plank sticking out of her shoulder. It  
seemed to have nicked her lung.

"GET ELIXIR!" Logan snarled. Laura looked around her desperately—Julian was in the air already, scanning the grounds for Foley.

Logan stared at Sarah. "You fuckin' quit breathing and _I will kill you!_" he said. "You hear me?! Stay with it." He shook her sternly.

"Laura…" Sarah's eyes rolled towards her daughter. They were glazed, full of pain. "Always Laura…never…X-23…always…my Laura…"

" Mom!" she dropped to her knees, tears rolling down her face. She couldn't…

"OUT of the fucking way!" Julian was back. Several rioters were thrown back into the mud; she breathed in relief. Josh was here…he knelt beside Sarah and placed  
his hands on her skin. "Pull it out," he said. Julian wrapped his hands around the plank and yanked it firmly; Sarah cried out in pain, then it was out, and Josh was healing her.

Logan made a _Hrumpf_ noise and let go of her. "You've got to stop putting my clone through stress," he said, sneering. "It's not healthy for her."

Sarah smiled weakly.

" When in doubt, pull out," Foley said, grinning at Julian.

"Don't be a dummy, come on her tummy," he answered. They'd come up with the saying about two months into their friendship.

" Can you please go be perverted somewhere else," Laura snapped. "That is my mother! Besides, it's a little late for that."

" Ohh, burn," Foley said. Julian flushed.


	41. 11: riot at xavier's 3:3 a funeral

* * *

**Volume: 2 Arc: "Riot at Xavier's" 11 Issue: 3/3 )**

 **Chapter 70: a funeral ******

**

* * *

  
**

"You two are in so much trouble, it's not even funny," Summers said, staring over the desk at Julian and Laura. "So, so very much trouble. It's  
a wonder I even have you up here, instead of in the gym, having Logan tell you you're going to jail—and then to a third-world country."

Julian cleared his throat. "Sir—"

"NOT ONE WORD," Scott snapped, leaning over the desk. "I want to expel you from the school. I am so _very _disappointed in you, both of you."

"Mr. Summers—"

" WHAT DID I JUST SAY?"

" Scott, it's very hard to defend ourselves when we're not allowed to talk," Laura said icily. "Do you really think we are stupid enough to follow an  
idiot like Quentin Quire? I am so _very_ disappointed in you."

"Nice try, Laura, but scare tactics don't work on me," Scott said. "However—curiosity does. What the hell did you two think you were doing?!"

Emma was standing in the background, in diamond form. She was furious.

"We—we wanted back on the Squad," Julian said, knowing it sounded lame. "After the…the cafeteria. We heard you talking about the Kick dealer…  
and thought that if we caught him…you might let us back on."

Silence. Scott and Emma stared at them.

"So we decided to do what you couldn't," Julian continued, trying to ignore how many eyes were burning holes in him. "We got into Quire's gang…  
and we tried to find his dealer."

"—!—" Emma folded her arms. "Are you children _stupid_?"

" Why didn't you tell us?!" Scott demanded. "You could have been killed!"

" You would have stopped us," Laura said.

" For a good reason!" Scott made a fist on the table. "You kids are—"

" Suspended," Emma said quietly. "For the rest of the term. If you wish to stay at this school—and attend it for the September—you will assist Mr. Xorn  
with his special education class until Summer Break."

Julian blinked. Laura folded her arms.

" I agree," Scott said, a little calmer now. "Though—I guess—your hearts were in the right place—I don't condone stupid ideas. Do your penance and we'll  
talk again. Case closed. OUT." Scott pointed at the door.

**…**

" We really did it this time," Julian looked out the window miserably. "What's the point of staying at the school? They'll never trust us again."

" Don't be silly, Keller," Laura said, pressing her face against his back and wrapping her arms around his waist. "If you were listening to Scott—they were talking  
to us in his office instead of the gym. What does that tell you?"

" …I guess." Julian pressed his forehead against the glass.

" It wasn't your fault. It was Sophie's choice," Laura said. "I liked how Emma used you as a weapon. Handy. Do you come in purse-size?"

" Shut up," Julian said, but a second later a dimple appeared were Laura had predicted. "I hate you, you know that?"

" I hate you too," Laura crooned. " Come on, we have a funeral to get ready for."

**…**

Laura watched the Professor as he spoke to the students about Sophie. He'd just finished reading a flowery poem. The Cuckoos were in the front row, dabbing  
at their eyes. Frost sat beside them, in diamond form. She'd been in diamond form this whole week. The rest of the X-men sat behind them, in suits—Scott,  
Dr. McCoy, Logan, Warren, Xorn, and the rest of the staff. Then the students. Everyone was in their best. Beside her, Julian was wearing a suit, which she  
secretly thought looked very good on him—but she'd be damned if she was going to tell him so. She was wearing a leopard print dress—the least racy thing  
she had that would still fit her.

"Sophie was a kind and gentle girl," the Professor was saying. "She excelled in everything she tried. She was a loyal sister. She was strong and unique in a  
world that hated and feared her." He wiped away a tear. "She will be missed."

The school was silent, their heads bowed. Julian found Laura's hand, and she knew he was thinking the same thing as her. What if it was one of them? They'd  
already _been_ there—but what if it happened again?

**…**

" Children," Emma said, stopping them on the staircase as they ascended to their room, after the funeral. She was still in diamond form. " What you did was stupid,  
and ill-planned. Quire is an omega-level telepath. How did you ever think you could conceal yourselves from his thoughts?"

Julian turned around to face his councilor. "I guess…I guess I wasn't thinking, Miss Frost. I wanted to be on the Squad again so bad…at least I did when this all  
started. Then I really wanted to help you catch the dealer. That stuff is terrible."

Emma studied them on the staircase. "Perhaps if I didn't think so highly of you, I wouldn't be so disappointed," she said. "Why did you think that the X-men would  
not help you? Did you not trust us?"

"You'd have told us no," Laura pointed out. "We didn't want to hear no."

Emma was silent, tight-lipped. She tilted her head.

" Tomorrow, you will find Professor Xorn, on the third floor of the left wing, Room 3207 B…and you will assist him with his class, for the rest of the Semester…helping  
students who are less fortunate than yourselves. They have no family, no friends, and are persecuted for looking different. They are the mutants of mutants. You  
will help them." Her eyes were cold.

" Yes," Julian said.

" When you return in September, we will see about restoring you to a team. Pending your good behavior, of course."

" Of course," Julian said.

" Dismissed, Mr. Keller. And _Mrs._" Emma's voice was always sarcastic on Laura's title, as if she found their relationship amusing.

**…**

Laura bid her mother and cousin goodbye that evening, in the main hall, giving each of them a lopsided hug (because of the Shrimps).

"Call me if you need anything, sweetheart…" Sarah said uncertainly. "I'll miss you! And let me know when they're coming…I want to be here." She touched her daughter's  
cheek. "My little project's all grown up!" she said affectionately.

Julian snorted. Laura rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, mom," she said. "Did I tell you…something really interesting about Keller…_he's_ a clone, too. Or the son of one, rather. Jean Grey-Summer's clone."

Julian scowled. They'd agreed this would not be mentioned, ever again. He hadn't quite processed it himself. Granted, it wasn't as bad as finding out he was a clone of  
someone else or anything, but still—

Sarah looked surprised. "Here we were believing cloned individuals could not bear children. You two are a testament to the scientific community. That—"

"—will never be shared with the public, _ever_," Laura said acidly.


	42. 12: special ed 1:5 special ed

**A/N: **ehehehe...I'm mean to my characters.

**

* * *

**

**( Volume: 2 Arc: "special ed" 12 Issue: 1/5 )**

 **Chapter 71: special ed ******

**

* * *

  
**

The next morning, the pair showered, dressed in solemn silence, and headed for Xorn's office, hanging their heads. Neither wanted to help what they considered to  
be the least interesting teacher at the school with the least interesting class—_special education_.

Julian knocked on the door. It opened after a moment.

"Hellion," Xorn said, in that soft, pleasant voice that grated on Laura's nerves. It was muffled by his helmet. "X-23."

That reminded Laura of her mother's strange ramblings when she was injured. She'd forgotten to ask her about it, and made a mental note to herself to do so later.

"Laura will do," she said stiffly.

"I believe in called people by their mutant names," Xorn said, the teeth of his metal skull gleaming in the semi-darkness of his office. His eyes were a terrible burning blue.  
"It describes their unique gifts better than any human name could."

"…" Laura eyed him warily. It had been a simple request. _Snff._ He smelled—he smelled like a faint blend of something familiar. She couldn't put her finger on it, for some reason.

" Come, let us introduce you to the students," Xorn said, closing the door behind him. "I believe you're going to make some wonderful friendships here."

Laura raised her eyebrow at Julian, when Xorn's back was turned to them. Did the man seriously believe that they would do anything of the sort? Julian shrugged helplessly,  
and they followed their new boss down the hall and into the classroom, a few doors down.

" Good morning, class," Xorn said as he stepped in, the pair following and peering in uncertainly. Julian leapt back, hitting Laura in the chin with his elbow; there were some  
repulsive mutants in there. "Asshole," she hissed.

" GOOD MORNING MISTER XORN," the students said as one. They had better coordination than the Cuckoos—vaguely creepy.

There were six students in all—a big, pink, fleshy boy with a circular disc in the middle of his head and a very wide mouth—no eyes—a small, wrinkled girl with pigtails  
(she looked like an old lady)—a brain in a floating globe (Martha, from telepathy)—a girl wearing a blindfold—a weird thing that looked like a cross between a cat and  
a fish; its face was like that of the former, with a large, singular eye; and its bottom half like that of the latter, with the addition of several tentacles and a striped tail.  
And then there was Beak. He looked excited to see the couple, and he waved a feathered arm. Julian nodded to him slightly. Laura inhaled, cataloging all of their scents  
to complete her analysis.

"Class, this is Hellion, and X-23," Xorn said. "They will be helping us for the rest of the term as we explore the great mysteries of the beautiful world together!" He  
sounded excited and even hopeful.

" Hyukk," said the fleshy boy. " Are they here to teach us sex ed? I want demonstrations!"

Julian traded an apprehensive look with Laura.

"Martha says she doesn't want to see sex!" Said the little wrinkled girl. "She doesn't like being reminded of what she'll never have!"

"I know what sex is," Barnell squawked. "I've had it, you know. Not that it's anyone's business."

"Yeah right!" the fleshy boy said again, grinning. "Hyukk."

"I have the babies to prove it!"

" So does she," the fleshy boy replied, pointing at Laura.

"_Mrrreoww…_" the catfish said.

The blindfolded girl was silent.

Xorn cleared his throat. "Children, please. These two are here to be your friends. There will be no inappropriate subject matter."

"The word's unappropriate," the fleshy boy said. " No it isn't!" Barnell protested.

"_Children_." Xorn put his hands on the desk. " I would like each of you to stand up and introduce yourself. Ernst, you may introduce Martha."

Scrape. The pink boy pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'm Basilisk. I have a brain seizure that makes people freeze when I show it to them. Wanna see?"

" I'll pass," Julian said.

" The paste tastes good," Basilisk added. "I got some if you want."

Barnell squawked.

"I am not going to introduce myself for you already know of me!" he said, excitedly. He was glad that his friends were here—the class was very boring now  
that Angel had to stay home with the babies.

"My name is Ernst," the little old-lady-girl said, gravely. Standing up, she was only twice as tall as the desk. "This is Martha. She's telepathic."

Julian shifted, his sneakers squeaking on the floor.

"_Rrraowrr…_"

"That is Catfish," Xorn said in explanation. "He is a meta-morph capable of changing into different animals."

"Why—" Julian began, not sure he wanted the answer.

"That is the shape he has chosen," Xorn said simply. He looked at the last student. "Blindfold," he said softly.

The girl looked straight ahead, and smiled slightly. "How-do-you-do, for I have thought of you before, yes. Excuse me, but you are not one of us."

Laura tilted her head. The girl was vaguely familiar.

"She's Blindfold," Barnell said in a stage whisper. "She's precognitive. That means she can see the future!"

" I thought that meant she made little gears or something," Basilisk said. "Hyukk."

Julian briefly pondered that Santo would love it here.

"Please come in," Xorn said. They entered the room completely, and the door swung shut behind them. Laura started and looked at it—then decided it  
must be leaning on its hinges, or something.

" Now!" Xorn straightened. "I believe the best way to start—and end—a day of education—is fun. The first thing I will ask for your help with, Hellion and  
X-23, is to set out the board games." He moved to a cabinet, pulled out a set of keys, and began to unlock it. Julian frowned.

"Why's it locked?" he asked.

**…**

"_**BWARRRGH**_!" Barnell shouted. Laura backed away from him in alarm; he had an awfully high-pitched voice when agitated. He and the other boy  
were playing Monopoly—or trying to.

"BASILISK! Your card said do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars! AND you are supposed to take the money from the bank—_not_ from my  
pile!" Barnell was furious.

"Hyukk," Basilisk said. "It was rent."

"I am not on any of your spots!"

" I bought Go. See? It's mine." Basilisk held up a card he'd drawn, a replica of the Go square.

" You cannot buy GO! ARRGH!" Barnell knocked over the board, sending monopoly pieces everywhere. The dog hit Laura in the forehead. She  
picked it up, annoyed, and passed it back to him.

Julian watched Ernst, Martha and Blindfold sitting together silently…playing Go Fish. He didn't understand how Blindfold could play when she  
couldn't see her cards. Yet she seemed to be winning.

At least they were quiet. He pitied Laura, who kept getting hit by flying game pieces. Basilisk had cheated four times already, in a period of thirty minutes.

And Catfish had been caught hoarding pieces under the rug.

"Class, it is time now for education," Xorn said. " Put away the games, and bring out your workbooks and coloring sheets."

" Aww, but we ain't done yet, Mister Xorn!" Basilisk said.

" Yes we are!" Barnell hissed. "For I am never playing with you again, you disgusting cheat! You have no honor! I want to kill you!"

"You always say that," Basilisk mumbled. " Hyukk."

Laura swept the monopoly pieces up and stuffed them into the box, then firmly closed the lid. Julian had a hard time—Blindfold wanted to hold onto a card—the  
king of spades—'because he is among us' and he had to convince her to let it go.

They put the games into the cabinet, then they moved over to Xorn's desk and stood on either side of him, awaiting directions.

" X-23, I want you to go around the class and make sure everyone has four crayons—red, blue, green, and yellow," he murmured in a low voice. "Please keep  
an eye on Catfish. I have seen him eat one before, and I do not know if they are toxic or not."

**…**

After 'coloring hour', the students finally opened their workbooks, which turned out to be books from the Chicken Soup series. The point of this class seemed to be  
solely relaxation; they already knew that some of these kids (like Barnell) also attended regular classes.

"You may take a break," Xorn told his helpers around noon. "An hour. Please be back by one o' clock, they still need to go out for a walk."

Julian and Laura left the room, each tempted to run as fast as they could and never return.

They shared a quiet lunch in the cafeteria, both exhausted. Then Julian snorted.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything so funny," he said.

At the end of coloring hour, Laura had been asked to take the crayons away. Catfish had decided otherwise, and had started quite a kerfuffle, slapping her with his  
spare tentacles while trying to hold on to the crayon. For some reason, he was obsessed with the red crayon—and only the red crayon (Laura had seen him licking  
it earlier). A power struggle occurred, and when Laura finally yanked it out of his grasp, they'd had to restrain him (him snarling and hissing like an angry cat all the while).

"Thanks, asshole." Laura finished her cake and pushed the plate away.

"What the hell do you think his problem is, anyway? Who would choose that form if they could be anything they wanted?" Julian asked. He didn't think Catfish was  
mentally handicapped—he'd been quite sneaky and devious—just terminally weird.

"I don't want to know," Laura said flatly. "He's not invited to my birthday, though."

Julian grinned, then glanced at the clock. "Fuck."

**…**

"Come, children!" Xorn called enthusiastically as he held open the door for the students. "It is a beautiful day. The skies are blue and the sun is shining!"

"I don't like the sun," Basilisk said sourly. "Hyukk."

"Rrraowr," Catfish added, licking his tentacle. Laura was silent, in her hands a leash attached to a body restraining harness on the said Catfish. Before "the walk", Xorn  
had pulled her outside the classroom and had explained in nice terms that she was to watch this particular student at all times outdoors; apparently, Catfish often  
'forgot' he was human and began to chase things.

There had been a nasty incident with a nearly extinct breed of Blackbird.

The other students were comparatively well-behaved, although Basilisk liked to mouth off a lot; indeed, he contradicted almost everything Xorn tried to tell the students.

"There are leaves on the trees, and flowers everywhere. What a beautiful April day! It is Spring, after a long Winter."

"Tell me about it," Laura mumbled to Julian. "Arrgh!" Catfish lunged after a squirrel, and she almost tripped. "No! Bad!" She jerked the chain; the boy made a  
defiant _mrreow_ noise at her and flicked his tail.

"Please, Catfish, remember to control your more primal urges," Xorn said gently. "Let us enjoy all the fresh air!"

"I think I smell Dummy," Basilisk said. "I think he's still floating around alive, in the shape of a gas. Kinda 'round near where your butt is, Mister Xorn."

"…" Xorn said nothing. Laura looked away. Martha bobbed in her glass bubble, swaying gently in the breeze, and she had an earth-shattering realization that there was  
no way in hell that she was going to survive the next two months of this. Julian kicked the ground.

"You gonna teach us more 'bout humans today, Mister Xorn?" Basilisk spoke up again, his grin unchanging but his voice slow and solemn.

Xorn stopped walking. "No. Today we will have a different lesson, my students…today we are going to classify wildflowers. I have a book."

Laura yanked on Catfish's lead a little more aggressively than was needed.

**…**

"The only thing good about this class is it's teaching us how to take care of small children," Laura grumbled at lunch, two days later. "It's ridiculous. I  
asked Xorn—Beak and Martha are the only students in that class who take any other courses at the school. Everyone's smart enough. Why can't they  
just put two and two together and apply themselves?"

"I don't think Basilisk is all that bright," Julian said, playing with his pudding.

"He is. You should see him cheat at games. I've never seen anything like it," Laura paused to lick her bowl. "And Catfish…_oh my god_. Why the hell doesn't  
Emma just fix him or something? He's acting like some weird kind of housecat."

"I caught him staring at your ass this morning," Julian said grimly. "During coloring. I looked at his piece of paper…"

Laura's eyes widened. "Oh, my god. The stick figures again?"

Catfish had taken to drawing weird stick-figure portraits of her, doing various things. Sometimes daily things—brushing her teeth, sleeping, eating—sometimes  
inappropriate. It was all too weird for her liking, and she'd demanded he stop it.

He hadn't. Then he'd drawn a stick figure of Julian in a hangman's noose, and given it to him before the walk.

Julian nodded. "He was drawing a portrait of the Shrimps. As they are now. It was pretty…disturbing."

"I want to speak to Emma!" Laura howled. "Did you keep the sheet?"

"He…he ate it before I could stop him," Julian said, wincing.

"My god." Laura pushed her bowl away, gagging.

"Relax. I won't let him feel you up with his tentacles." He got up and took their dishes to the tray reciprocal. He didn't notice Santo and Brian standing there—and  
flushed furiously. He'd been avoiding his friends desperately since he'd been sent to assist Xorn's class as punishment—the next step was being _in_ it, in his opinion.

"Hey man! Why you hiding out in the corner like that?" Brian asked.

Santo grinned. "Aren't you gonna show off your tattoo to us?" he asked.

Julian made a face of distaste; the Omega brand had proved to be more permanent than he'd thought. After accidentally hurling a filing cabinet out of a second-story  
window while concentrating on the ink molecules, he'd consulted Dr. McCoy—but the cure sounded worse than the ailment.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said shortly.

Santo continued to conceal his laughter; Julian knew he was bursting with jokes about his new 'duty'. "Out with it," he sighed.

"Wasn't gonna say nothing," Santo said amiably. "Dude, I envy you. You get to slack off all spring—no work—just watch a bunch of kids pick flowers and shit."

"Sounds nice—where do I sign up?" Julian asked. "I don't think we're talking about the same class. These people…I didn't know anyone like them could exist..." he  
went on to briefly describe the students of Xorn's class.

"Dude! They play board games?!" Santo rubbed his chin. "D'you think I could trick Silicon Valley into thinking I lost ten IQ points? I'm pretty sure that's all that's  
keeping me from that pot of gold…I barely passed the entrance exams."

"Santo…if you actually want to be in Xorn's class, then you _should_ be in it—no tricks necessary," Julian pointed out scornfully.

"Tricks make it more fun," Santo said thoughtfully.

"Please tell me you're not serious."

"Oh, but I am," Santo said.

"I'm going to pretend I have no idea what you're thinking. I'm in enough trouble already. So I'm going to go now, because you're scaring me." Julian mouthed  
'stop him' to Brian, then backed away.

**…**

"Deep, soothing breaths," Xorn instructed the class, sitting on his desk in a lotus pose. The classroom tables had been cleared to the side, mats had been laid down, and  
the students were now being taught yoga. "Think calming thoughts. Waves at the beach, slowly—"

"Mister Xorn…" Basilisk held up his hand. "I think I'm stuck."

Xorn tilted his head towards his student. "Again, Basilisk?" he asked the fleshy pink boy, who nodded seriously. His enormous legs were somehow twisted in a pretzel like  
position, utterly not how Xorn had carefully shown him to do (once in a group, and three times privately).

"Very well. Hellion? X-23? Would you be so kind…"

Laura gritted her teeth in irritation, not understanding how someone could not get this thing. You put your feet together, and bent your knees outwards. Julian took  
Basilisk's other knee in his hand, and together they pulled until his legs became untangled. She'd never seen anything like it. Even Catfish was getting this pose—and  
he had tentacles, and a tail. Beak squawked in the back of the room.

"But how can I picture a peaceful beach when there's all this talking!" he snapped.

"My humble apologies," Xorn said.

Laura brushed her hair out of her eyes. Both Shrimps fluttered, and her face twitched, the expression floating between humor and irritation.

**…**

"ARGH!" Laura yelled, whirling around. She'd been walking up the aisle between the seats, handing out crayons as per usual, when a disgusting thing pinched her.

She was quite certain of what it was.

"X-23?" Xorn asked, surprised at the outburst.

"…" Laura glared at Catfish, who flicked his tail quite defiantly at her. "He's harassing me, Xorn," she hissed.

"Catfish, is this true?" the teacher asked sternly.

The perpetrator looked away. Xorn sighed. "Please find it in your heart to forgive him. The children in this class have suffered much exploit and abuse, and it  
has made them very sensitive. They do not know how to fit into society after their experiences."

"_Mrrreowwwr_," Catfish said, making a noise that trailed off.

Laura rolled her eyes but stayed silent. She highly doubted that anything Catfish had been through could equal her experiences—but she was in enough trouble,  
without mouthing off to the teacher.


	43. 12: special ed 2:5 birthday boy

**A/N: **Oh noes! I have snow! Hopefully it doesn't interfere with my finals or my flight :\ Four days! I am SO excited!**  
**This chapter is mostly character building...explains a bit more about Laura, gives some friends time. Enjoy!~

* * *

**  
( Volume: 2 Arc: "special ed" 12 Issue: 2/5 )**

 **Chapter 72: birthday boy ******

* * *

Saturday afternoon—a day free of Special Ed—and Julian's birthday—Laura opened the door of their room to find Julian sitting at the computer  
table, his fingertips arched together. He swiveled to face her.

"I've been waiting," he said. "We need to have a little talk."

His hair was damp, combed flat, instead of spiked up with gel as per norm.

She raised her eyebrow. "You're under-exaggerating. Little, with you, always means you want to yell at me about something."

Julian looked annoyed. "I got an interesting e-mail today."

Laura put her bag down on the table and eased her way past the cramped space in-between a shelf and a table. Her stomach made it difficult—she  
was now in the sixth month of her term, and she was quite disproportionate.

"Oh, really?" she asked innocently.

"Mmm. It was a group mailing, actually. I was a carbon-copy recipient. The originals went to all the New Mutants. Nori was the headliner."

Laura sat down on the bed and swung her legs up with a satisfied sigh. "Ahh, much better. Do tell me about this e-mail, it sounds so interesting already. Was it  
a Viagra ad? Or something that promised 400X enlargement? HAH! That means you're microscopic—I hope you signed up for it!"

"…" Julian leaned his forehead on his hand. "No. It was a link to this place called . Laura…_why the fuck did you compare me to a pineapple_?!"

"HAHAHAHA!" Laura was unable to keep a straight face. "Did it get a lot of votes?"

"That's not the point!" Julian shouted, pissed off now. "You fucking embarrass me every chance you get! I can't count the number of pineapple jokes I got today!"

Laura grinned. "Oh my god—are you the very pineapple they use on Hitler in hell?" she asked.

Julian turned red. "Yes—yes, that one. And Josh asked me if I was canned in my own juices or in syrup."

"OHO! I like!"

"Damnit, Laura! You can't keep doing this to me!"

"Yes I can," she pointed out, holding up her finger thoughtfully.

"I hate you," Julian said venomously. "I will get you back for this."

"Sure you will," Laura smiled pleasantly.

**…**

Saturday evening.

Laura had, of course, alerted everyone to the fact that it was a special day, and made arrangements (a few evenings had been spent with Cessily, planning it  
out—of course—and she'd had to find new ways to keep him busy the whole time). It wasn't easy. She'd had to resort to nasty pranks—earlier in the month,  
when they were still in school and there had been assignments due, she'd reprogrammed his word processor to automatically exchange words, a feature which  
had bought her three evenings of free time (far more than she'd needed) and a lot of swearing on Keller's part—but last night had been especially difficult,  
when she had needed to confirm the arrangements. And Keller had been impossible, demanding to know where she was going, and what she was doing.

Now it was up to her to convince him to leave the room. He looked comfortable; he was stretched out on the bed, reading a book.

Laura pursed her lips, peaking out of the bathroom. This, at least, would be easy.

"KELLER!" she yelled suddenly, running into the bedroom, holding her hairbrush. "Oh my god! I think we're under attack!"

"Huh?" he looked over the edge of his book.

"I hear guns! We've got to get out of here!" She paused, careful not to overdo her expressions. She threw her hairbrush to the floor. "Kimura," she said,  
her voice lower. _Snkkt_, the claws on one hand.

She was a very good actress.

Julian didn't doubt her; he dropped the book, jumped off the bed and ran for the door. Laura followed, retracting her claws and pausing to pick up her purse  
and their jackets as he ran down the hallway. She smiled and waved at a few of the students that were gazing after him in confusion.

"What the—" he was at the staircase now, skidding to a halt, and it had registered that no one else was acting panicked. "Laura! The fuck! Nothing's happening!"

"…Surprise?" Cessily asked from the bottom of the staircase. She and an oddball mixture of his friends—the ex-Hellions, Sofia, Josh, Barnell and Angel—were waiting  
for him—and they had been ready to yell surprise—but he was pale, and looked like he'd already undergone an extreme shock.

Laura came into view and waved at the group, dabbing at her knuckles with a handkerchief. "Okay! He's here! I did my bit!" She grinned.

"I fucking _hate_ her," Keller said helplessly. He sat down on the stairs and held his head in his hands.

"Dude, what did she tell you?" Santo asked, grimacing.

"It doesn't matter!" Laura said dismissively, dropping his jacket on his shoulders. "The point is, we're all here and it's party time! Woohoo! So let's go…I'm dying to  
get out of this hell-hole!"

"Yay! Come on!" Cessily ran up the stairs and grabbed his arm. "Let's go! Big plans for the birthday boy!"

**…**

The group was now sitting at a 'safe' Boston Pizza (as in Xavier's had a rather expensive contract with the branch to serve mutants), in a large, red, fake leather  
corner booth, considering menus. Laura hadn't been able to fit between the table and the chair back; she'd slid into the very corner, in a moment of ingenuity. The  
others had hidden smiles politely until Julian had laughed openly at her (and pointed).

"One year away from being able to throw out your fake IDs!" Josh said. "You excited?"

"Of course," Julian said. "I'm more excited about having an actual grown-up in this fucked up family thing I've got going, to be honest. The awesome thing is I'll be  
able to ground my wife along with my kids."

Laura made a _ttcht_ noise.

"Ugh, dude! Don't remind me!" Josh made a face. "Your commitment disgusts me. Can't we just pretend it didn't happen?"

"Not when it's sitting right here," Laura said, looking at Julian. Her eyes widened and focused past him as a waitress walked by, carrying a dish of lobster and  
cheese. Her nostrils flared.

Julian turned his head. "What is it with you and the freakin' lobster?" he asked.

"I…I don't know," Laura said, uncertain.

Sofia smiled slightly, but did not look up from her menu.

A waitress approached their table with a polite smile. "You guys ready?" she asked.

Julian frowned, slamming his menu shut. "Well, I thought I was going to have a burger—they look great—but I'm suddenly seized by an uncontrollable compulsion  
to order the lobster plate. I have no clue why. I _hate_ seafood." His tone was bitter.

Laura looked away.

"Okay," the waitress said, scribbling it down, her eyes bulging briefly in a 'whew' look. "Anything else for you?"

"Some garlic bread, please, because I'm not going to get to eat much of my order," Julian added. He handed the menu to the waitress.

"You in the corner?"

"Vegetable soup," Laura said, her voice small. Despite her usual attitude that Keller should mold his life to fit hers, she felt bad. He was obviously feeling the strain of  
her peculiarity. _Three more months_, she thought, patting her stomach under the table. A shrimp fluttered and she squirmed accordingly for a moment.

"Meat lover's pizza for me!" Josh said. "I love being single!"

Julian leaned his forehead on his hand, mouthing something.

"Uhh, I'll have what she's having," Cessily said, indicating Laura. She wouldn't be eating it anyways, not having a digestive system.

Kevin, sitting beside her, considered his menu carefully. "Dungeness Crab," he said finally, his glove squeaking against the laminated menu.

"Nothing for me, thank you," Sooraya said. She did not wish to remove her head-coverings in front of the various males present.

"Me either," Santo grumbled. Since losing his original body in an accident and becoming a psionic entity, he'd lost his ability to eat.

"Caesar salad, please, with chicken. Thank you," Sofia said politely.

"Vegetarian burger," Barnell squawked. "No tomatoes. Mayonnaise on the side please! I want to control how much is applied to it…these restaurants always  
drown their meals in unnecessary calories."

Angel rolled her eyes. "Sirloin burger with onion rings. Soak it in everything you've got. You can use the toppings from his burger, if you want to save yourself  
some trouble. And _I'm_ the woman in this relationship, sheesh."

A few people snorted, including Josh.

"Calamari," Brian said, completing the round of orders.

"Ok. Drinks for anyone?"

"Water for her," Julian said before Laura could speak up. "Me too. Water for everyone, actually…I don't want alcohol within her reach. It's dangerous."

"Killjoy Keller!" Laura said. "Can we uninvite him to his birthday? He's totally sucking the life out of this party."

The serving girl's eyes popped again, and she turned and left quite abruptly.

Josh grinned and made a drinking motion with his fingers. "Next birthday, man…we're so playing Antique Roadshow again."

Julian raised his eyebrows. "That game's dangerous. We were hammered by the first commercial break, remember?"

"I don't want to know," Cessily said loudly. "Men!"

"I'm supposed to be special tonight. You can't insult me," Julian said.

"She wasn't talking about you, Keller. She said men…not little boys," Laura said, leaning back into the corner.

"Oho," Josh said. "You gonna take that shit lying down?"

"It's either that or I beat up preggos. I'm sure there's some sort of special criminal category for that," Julian said thoughtfully.

Laura made another _ttcht_ noise. "You wish!" she said.

"I really, really do, sometimes," he said.

"So how's those cooking skills coming, Keller?" Angel asked, smirking. "Remember the time you almost blew the roof off our house trying to please your woman? _I_  
sure do…I've got heart-shaped imprints all over the ceiling."

Laura high-fived her.

"I hate you, both of you," Julian said venomously, as several people at the table grinned, arming themselves with new jokes.

**…**

"Dude! They forgot the pineapple! Help me out?" Josh asked, holding up the lid on his personal pizza as the food arrived.

"You've been waiting to use that," Julian accused.

"You know it," Josh grinned.

"I was gonna do that one," Brian grumbled, shifting rings of Calamari around his plate. "Now I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board. Thanks, Foley. Thanks a lot."

"Don't mention it," Josh said, pulling a piece of pizza out.

Laura reached over to Julian's plate and began picking at it with her fork. He raised his eyebrow, then took a small bun plate, shifted over half of the contents of his dish,  
and handed it to her. "You know you're going to eat it, anyway," he said, in response to her uncertain, wary look.

"He's right," Angel said.

Laura accepted the plate and began to nudge items around, then nibbled at it.

Cessily leaned on her elbows and watched her friends, smiling slightly.

"OW!" Kevin yelped beside her. He'd removed his gloves to eat the crab (which had unfortunately turned out to be a finger food, which he usually avoided due to the danger of  
going gloveless); he'd bitten a digit. He sucked on it with a disgruntled expression; Cessily sighed.

"Beaky does that all the time," Angel said.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Barnell's vegetable patty squirted out of his burger and shot across the table, stopping in front of Sooraya.

"SORRY!" Barnell squawked. "It's these darned arms of mine! I—" he accidentally elbowed Angel in the face, trying to adjust the bun he was holding.

"Arrgh! You mind watching where you point those things?" she asked, rubbing her cheek. "I swear, 'Smooth Operator' should be your theme song or something, Bird Brain."

Barnell looked down at the table. Sooraya held out his patty, her eyes crinkled at the corners; he took it carefully in his talons and tucked it back between the buns.

Sofia paid careful attention to her salad, laughter threatening to bubble up.

**…**

"That was awesome, dude," Josh said, still laughing. "I've heard of that happening before, but I've never had the honor of actually seeing it!"

Julian had been looking off to the side, where Sofia happened to be sitting, and he'd been drinking water. Laura had noticed this, leaned over, and shouted "SURPRISE!"  
very loudly in his ear. His drink had come out his nose quite violently, and it had taken him about two minutes to finish coughing it up.

"Good for…you," Julian grumbled, rubbing his nose. His face was completely red—both from being caught, and from choking.

"You looked like a fountain," Santo said. "Maybe a geyser."

"HAHAHA! Old Faithful!" Laura said.

"Oh my god. Thanks, Santo, you complete asshole!" Julian crumpled his napkin. "Like she doesn't have enough nicknames for me, you go and give her more! When will you  
learn to just be quiet around her?!"

"When will you learn to stop fucking up around me?" Laura asked, grinning.

"You kind of deserved it," Cessily said. She'd noticed him looking off, too.

"Happy birthday to me," Julian mumbled.

"Aw, dude, we're just joking with you," Santo said. "'Coz we _lurrrve_ you. You're makin' us feel bad."

"Pfft." Julian sneered, but he relaxed a bit. They had been joking, after all; and Sofia hadn't noticed anything. He hadn't meant to do it anyways—it had been an accident.  
Laura was watching the table, leaning back into the corner, seemingly unconcerned; it hadn't actually bothered her. Good, no temper tantrum later, Julian thought. Laura  
was generally easy going about most things other girls would freak out about, but the hormones she was fighting had made her very edgy lately, something he'd had to  
force himself to cut her slack for.

"Presents!" Cessily said suddenly, pulling a small, wrapped box out of her purse and handing it to Julian, who raised his eyebrows. The table was filled with scuffling noises  
as everyone pulled out a present from a various source—jacket pockets and bags—Santo raised his baseball cap and produces a small, thin package with a grin.

"Thought your head looked a little bigger than usual today," Julian said, raising his eyebrows. "I put it down to you getting smarter."

"Yeah right!" Santo said.

The gifts turned out well; Santo had given him a gift card, to Future Shop; Cessily, a gift card to Toys 'R Us (Julian had been confused until she'd glanced pointedly at Laura's  
stomach); Brian, a graphic novel—Watchmen—that he'd been eyeing at the bookstore last time they'd gone; Josh, an expansion pack for his PS3 game Guitar Hero; Sooraya,  
a book he'd mentioned wanting; Sofia, a t-shirt that said "200% mutant"; Barnell and Angel a cookbook and an apron that read "If you want breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen!";  
and Laura a receipt, which took the longest to decipher. It finally turned out to be a laptop, which Laura explained had been left in the room because she was afraid he would get it stolen.

"Everyone chipped in," she said. It was quite expensive. The amount would have meant nothing to him before, but now he really appreciated the gifts, and the trouble his friends  
had gone through to obtain them—considering the fact that no one got allowances, and Nori was the only mutant with a job in the mansion.

**…**

After the restaurant, they went to the arcade for an hour and played without mishap (except when Laura vomited once during a moment of excitement, unable to make  
it to the bathroom; they had to move across the arcade, trying not to act conspicuous).

"Let's go see a movie," Cessily suggested as they left the arcade.

"Horror," Julian said immediately. "Since I can't make her suffer, I want to see other people suffer." Everyone knew he was talking about Laura.

Cessily grinned. "Hey, and it's good for cuddling!" She looked at Kevin.

"Ugh, couples make me sick!" Josh said. "Put it away, put it away!"

"Me three," Santo mumbled. "Hey Brian…you wanna cuddle?"

"Um, no thanks," Brian said, wincing. "Watching _her_ puke already made me nauseous enough. It's that whole see-vomit, do-vomit thing."

"Not my fault the Shrimps want to be the only seafood around," Laura said, dabbing at her mouth with a handkerchief.

**…**

"POPCORN!" Laura said, bouncing up and down as they passed the concession stand. "I wants, I wants! Keller?!"

"Holy jeez, you'd think it's her birthday," he said, stopping. "Fine, fine. You sure you can handle some right now, Miss Barf?"

"Mhmm," she said. He couldn't help grinning at her excited expression; Laura was quite a piece of work. Almost childlike at times. Small things could cause her  
immense happiness. "Anyone else want something?" he asked.

"Yeah, Beaky, get me some twizzlers," Angel said.

"Oh my god…they have KFC!" Santo said, pushing Sooraya and Josh out of his way.

"You can't eat, Santo," Cessily pointed out, raising her eyebrows.

"…" Santo stared at the restaurant window. "GRR! I freakin' hate being a mutant sometimes!" He folded his rock-arms and looked away. "I totally want to give  
them my money so I can support their abuse of chickens, too. D'you think they'd accept donations?."

Barnell squawked.

"I'd eat you if I could," Santo added.

"Shut up, Santo," Cessily said. "I can't eat either. Quit being such a baby."

"Ok, I'm just going to get the popcorn then," Julian said, rolling his eyes. His friends were so weird. Laura followed him around the corner to the stand like a puppy,  
her nostrils flared. "Can I have pop too?"

"Why the hell are you asking me? You don't need my permission," Julian said. "If you want my opinion—no, no you cannot have pop, it's just going to come up later.  
But that's just my point of view." He sounded annoyed.

Laura leaned her head on his shoulder. "A large one. A sprite—no—diet coke!"

"Please and thank you," Julian reminded her as they joined the lineup.

"You're welcome," Laura responded.

He rolled his eyes. "And you're going to be teaching manners to two kids?"

"No…I'm not going to teach them manners," Laura said, her eyes on the concession menu. "Manners are for pussies. You want something, you take it—and you laugh  
at the person you took it from."

"Wow. Just wow. That's all I have to say." Julian dug in his pocket; they were next.

"Good! I'm glad you agree with my parenting methods," Laura teased.

"Mmm. You forgot to add the part where you kick the person in the nuts," Julian replied sarcastically. "It's funnier if they're in pain, too."

"I think I married the right person," Laura said approvingly.

"Vicious bitch," Julian countered.

The concession stand person caught part of their conversation and stared at them like they were aliens.

**…**

The rest of the evening passed without tribulations, and the group headed home, enthused by a night of almost normal recreation without persecution for their differences.

"I can't believe we don't have to go to Special Ed tomorrow," Julian said, yawning as he locked the door behind them. "This is like the best birthday ever. Seriously. I hate  
that class with a passion, and everyone in it. Except, you know, Beak."

"Did you have fun tonight?" Laura asked, putting her purse down.

"Mhmm. Thank you. It almost made up for the heart attack you gave me earlier. What were you trying to do, make me look my age?"

Laura pulled off her jacket, half-smiling, then moved towards him and touched his chest, looking down. "Keller…there's one thing I want to say to you…that you will never, _ever _  
hear me say again," she mumbled. "I don't even want to say it now, but it's true, and I'm an honest person…and I feel bad about it."

"…" Julian froze, his eyes wide with fear.

"I'm sorry I fucked up your life," Laura said bluntly. She looked up and frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"…" he leaned against the door. "I thought you were about to tell me you did something to my car," he admitted weakly.

"Oh my god," Laura said. Then she grinned, despite herself. "You're such a loser! I try to be decent to you, for once, and—"

He leaned forwards and kissed her gently. "Don't say you're sorry," he said. "I don't regret anything that happened. Really. Even this Special Ed crap…I've still got you so I don't care."

Laura gave him a pained smile. "I'll try not to bring any more shit to the table…it's hard sometimes…but…"

"It's not your fault," he said sternly. "You haven't done anything that I haven't agreed with. You'd know if you had. This whole term…Quire wasn't our fault."

"The food fight was kind of mine," she admitted.

"Laura, do you think you made me cause those cream puffs to explode?" Julian asked, grinning. "It was all me. I fucking I dumping the meatball soup over Nori's and David's heads, too.  
You could see the oil stains on his glasses and everything. No…I don't regret it."

"Okay," Laura said. She hesitated. "The rest—"

"You make my life a lot more interesting," he said. "You're a pain in my ass sometimes but when it comes down to it, I think you're good for me. I haven't been such a jerk  
since you've been around, if you've noticed. You keep me on my toes." He considered her. "That's not an invitation to try harder. Just FYI."

Laura stuck out her tongue-stud at him, and he pointed to the bed. "In," he ordered.

**…**

A little while later, in the dark, Laura rested her head on his shoulder .

"I'm sorry about the bar, too," she said in a small voice. "I didn't tell you that."

Julian waited, silent.

"This is the last year of my life I get to be a child," she continued. "A teenager. You…you don't have to grow up, right away. I do—I have to suddenly just know everything,  
know how to make everything right for two little beings…when I don't even know how to make things right for myself. Keller…I'm scared. I guess I got a little carried away."

Julian frowned and rested his cheek against her hair. "I'm not going anywhere," he said. "I don't know how much help I'll be…but it's something, right?"

"Okay," Laura said.

"Besides, I don't think anyone expects you to know everything right away…don't be silly. You may be a mutant, but you're not Wonder Woman. I think it'll be more like us  
learning as we go along. No one's just born knowing everything, Laura."

"Except for David," she commented.

Julian rolled his eyes. "You just had to bring him up. For god's sake, Laura, it's my birthday. Don't compliment my arch-nemesis while we're in bed."

She smiled, despite herself. "I thought you were over the whole hatred thing."

"Never. Alleyne's such a moron. Have you even seen his uniform? He incorporated his glasses into it. I wonder if he even realizes how nerdy he looks."

"Keller, we _all_ look like nerds in our uniforms."

"He looks like a cockroach! He has bug-eyes!" Julian protested.

Laura raised her eyebrow. "You're just upset that he beats you at everything."

Julian paused. "Maybe," he admitted, his voice low. "That does not leave this room, _ever_. And while we're on the topic…I need new books for next year. I am not  
attending another term at this school with his name all over my binders. Nori threatens me every day to back off 'coz he's hers."

"HAHAHAHA!" Laura threw back her head and laughed, then her eyes widened and she squirmed. "Oh my god! I woke them up!" She sat up, holding her belly, her  
face twitching in-between laughter and discomfort.

"Serves you right," Julian said mildly, but he reached out and pressed his hand to her stomach, feeling the flutters. Sure enough, both Shrimps were moving quite  
vigorously, kicking against his palm. "Sucks to be you," he said, grinning.

"Asshole," Laura said, her voice full of venom.


	44. 12: special ed 3:5 accelerated!

**A/N: **Dum dum dum dum dum dum...DAHHHHH DAHHHH! DAHHH DAHHH! drrr....my attempt at Jaws music.

**

* * *

( Volume: 2 Arc: "special ed" 12 Issue: 3/5 )**

 **Chapter 73: accelerated! ******

**

* * *

  
**

"HEY! HEY! GIVE THAT BACK!" Laura shouted, snatching after the red crayon in Catfish's tail. He made a stuttering hiss that sounded vaguely like laughter,  
holding it high above her reach.

"Grr!" Laura made another grab for it; Catfish eluded her attempt, shoving her away with a tentacle (Julian just managed to catch her with a thought before  
she crashed into a table); he brought his tail over his head—and inserted the crayon in his mouth. _Glomp glomp….swallow._

The teacher's assistants, and Xorn himself, watched the student silently.

"He should be alright," Xorn said finally, from the desk. He sounded resigned. "I switched to an organic beeswax crayon for his desk. They are quite  
expensive…but non-toxic."

"That's not what I was thinking about," Laura mumbled. Julian set her back on her feet, silently agreeing with her.

"Hardcore," Basilisk said, looking over his hand of cards. "I haven't been brave enough to try the crayons yet, just the paste. Once, because Beaky said I  
wouldn't have the guts to. I sure showed him!"

Laura froze suddenly, looking at the door.

A minute later… _Stomp stomp stomp_…"OW! Miss Frost!"

**_BAM!_** The door opened to reveal Emma, in diamond form, holding Santo by a rocky ear (he was hunched over almost halfway to accommodate the difference in height).

"I have a new pupil for you, Mr. Xorn," she said, her voice terrifying.

Julian stared. He really, really, _really_ hadn't thought Santo was serious about wanting to join this class.

Xorn looked up at Ms. Frost from the desk, his hands and thumbs together. "I see. What is his name?"

"Ro—" Santo started.

"Be quiet! You will wait until you are addressed!" Emma said viciously. "His name is Rockslide, Santo Vaccarro, and he is here because he has traversed the limits of my  
patience! He will also be assisting your class."

"But—" Santo shut up, as Emma turned her cold eyes on him. "Not one word, Mr. Vaccarro, or you will never speak again. Understood?"

Santo was silent, his eyes wide. He nodded quickly; Emma released his ear and his head snapped backwards. It had obviously been under a lot of force.

"Good." Emma whirled around and stomped away, banging the door shut behind her. Laura noted that her skirt was crooked.

"What—" Julian began.

"Hellion, there will be time to speak with your friend later, perhaps after class. It is now time for our students to have their daily exercise. If you would be so kind as to help  
X-23 harness Catfish…and Rockslide, you may assist me with tidying the classroom."

**…**

"Dude, it was totally an accident," Santo mumbled to Julian as they trailed behind the special students. "I fell asleep in Ethics class, and my rocks dropped under my seat.  
It happens sometimes when I'm really tired. So I woke up to hearing voices—Frost and Summers—just when he was shutting the door."

Julian stared at him, stopping in his tracks. "Are you saying—"

"Holy awkward, Batman! All the windows were shut, too! Dude…I didn't know what the hell to do…I saw some extreme shit…I'm never going to see Summers the same  
again…" Santo looked traumatized. "We all fantasize about seeing Frost naked—but Summers—"

"I don't need to hear it," Julian whispered back.

"When she turned fleshy again—she told Summers to get dressed—and—oh god, then she went after me. I've never been so scared. She forced my rocks together and I  
spent an hour in a private, psychological hell…" Santo looked like he wanted to cry.

"Dude," Julian patted his shoulder. "Try not to think about it."

"It's burned into my mind," Santo grumbled. "I think she ruined porn for me. I can't believe it…this has to be the worst day of my life…"

"_**RRRAWRR!**_"

Catfish took off, spotting a squirrel. "NO!" Laura squealed, trying to dig in her heels; she tripped and fell to her knees, the leash snaking out of her hand.

"No, Catfish!" Xorn shouted, as the mess of fish and cat swept after the squirrel on all his limbs, moving surprisingly fast on his tentacles. He pursued it up a tree, catching it  
on the end of the branch and making terrible rending noises.

Laura knelt in the grass, obviously trying to keep her cool. Her knuckles were white, and Julian could see the points of her claws about to break free.

He jogged over to where she was kneeling. "Come on…I'll help you up," he offered his hand to her.

She nodded, then took the limb and heaved herself up, her lips pressed together in a firm line.

Santo watched the pieces of squirrel fur drifting to the ground. "Huh," he said. "Gotta give him props for determination. Moves like a bullet…what'd you say his name was again?"

"Catfish," Laura said, her face twitching in disgust. "I want to put him out of his misery." She had grass stains on her palms and knees.

**…**

The next day…

"The games are in that cupboard," Julian said, pointing at the large wooden cabinet. " Also, the crayons are in there now."

"Why's it locked?" Santo asked, frowning.

Julian grinned. "You know, I asked the exact same thing. You'll see. And don't say I didn't warn you."

"Okay…" Santo looked lost.

"Let us begin our beautiful new day! We will play games, and then move on to more challenging, academic activities!" Xorn said, doing a good impression of genuine excitement  
as he moved to the cabinet and unlocked the deadbolt with his master key. He tucked it back in his pocket (zipping it shut after).

Santo's eyebrows drew together.

**…**

"HOLY—" Santo jumped back as the Checkers board sailed through the air, the pieces whizzing like hockey pucks. Several bounced off his arms and shoulders in a hail-like effect.

"I WUZ _**NOT**_ CHEATIN'!" Basilisk shouted, angry.

"Were so!" Barnell, his eyes full of fire.

"_Mrr-HOW-rrr-HOW-eowr_," Catfish made the odd, hissing laugh again from across the room. He was sitting at the desk with a sheet of paper, and an enormous crayon (Xorn had  
decided that –since yet another crayon had been swallowed that morning when Catfish was found alone in the room—perhaps making the crayon larger would make it impervious  
to ingestion. It had been a good idea, although Catfish had chewed on the top already) held in his curled tentacle.

"Wha—" Laura grabbed the sheet of paper from him while his head was turned.

"OH MY GOD! Xorn! Here, I have proof!" she shouted, darting away from the now-angry tentacles seeking to repossess the piece of paper.

Xorn looked up from his desk. "X-23?"

She slammed the sheet of paper down on the surface in front of him. It was a stick figure portrait of herself, frying two eggs in a pan, with a stick figure of Catfish himself sitting  
at a table, holding a fork and knife. Sitting—slumped on the table—beside his figure was another one, with spiky hair, and a knife in his back.

Xorn studied the paper silently.

"Catfish, come here, please," he said solemnly.

"_MRRREOW_!" Catfish folded his tentacles.

Xorn sighed. "X-23...I will have a word with him later, alone. Please do not worry…Catfish is a good-hearted boy. He means you and your partner no harm."

"**_HSSSSSSSSSSSS_**!" Catfish was glaring venomously at Julian, who had been watching the exchange silently. He twitched, his eyes glowing briefly—there was no guaranteeing the  
two hundred pound mess of tentacles wouldn't suddenly launch itself at him.

"Creepy," Santo said, now at the desk, studying the picture. "Man, he's so got you down, Julian. He got the pineapple head and everything. I'd watch your back if I were you."

"Literally," Julian mumbled, studying the picture too.

"You may help with the girls for the afternoon, X-23. Rockslide, would you be so kind as to spend time with Catfish today instead?"

"Do I have to?" Santo asked.

"…yes," Xorn said.

Laura moved over to the three girls—Ernst, Martha and Ruth—and stood overhead, contemplating them. She finally eased herself to the floor and rubbed her aching back. The  
Shrimps had been quite active that morning (Laura had commented that she now knew what it was like to be the road for the Ironman triathlon), and she had been standing  
all day, supporting the two extra weights. She mused that they felt enormous, and wondered if perhaps she should ask Dr. McCoy to take a look again, a little earlier than his  
scheduled monthly check-up. He had mentioned before that her healing factor might cause accelerated development; it had been slowed to "normal" growth by the downtime  
she'd had at three months, and the fact that there was two, but he'd warned her to see him if she noticed changes.

"Excuse me," Ruth said, smiling. "I have not seen you in a long time."

"Okay," Laura said, leaning back on her hands. Ruth hadn't ever seen her.

"They will be ready. But I am sorry that so much trouble is yours. He did not care that they are children. Ascension! And an old man's foolish failure," Ruth said casually, her  
blindfold pointed towards the ceiling.

"…" Laura closed her eyes.

**…**

"Keller…you know what Dr. McCoy told us, a few visits ago?" Laura asked casually, lying on her back with Julian's head on her shoulder (they'd been silent for several minutes  
after some small talk, both exhausted from their day of torture-labor at Special Ed; Xorn had made them clean. Even with Santo's help, it had been very tiring).

"Mmm?" Julian didn't open his eyes.

"You know…" a hint of nervousness crept into her voice, even though she tried to conceal it. "The thing about going to see him early if…"

Julian sat bolt upright and stared at her. "**_WHAT?_** No, No. They're still tiny. Tell me they're still tiny. _**LAURA—**_"

"Calm down," she said. She hesitated, took his hand, and slipped it up to her waist. "I don't know if you can feel it from outside…"

"I'm up," Julian said, pushing the covers away. "Get dressed, we're seeing him _now_. I'm not sleeping till I know how much time I have left!"

**…**

Dr. McCoy was down in the lab, putting slides of tissue samples into a tray when they finally found him. He did not turn to look at them. "Laura? May I help you?" he asked  
as she hesitated in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Dr. McCoy," Laura said. "I tried to make him wait. I told him it wasn't okay to bother you at midnight, but—"

"_Tccht_, don't worry about it, my dear," Dr. McCoy said. "As you can see, I quite clearly was not sleeping. I rarely sleep until the wee hours anyway. Ah, yes, you will  
hear me preach in class about the harmful affects of overconsumption of coffee, and yet rarely a day goes by where I do not consume two pots by myself. What a  
glorious substance! How may I help you?"

Laura hesitated. At that moment, Julian reached the stairs and ran down them quite noisily (he slipped on the fifth one and fell three before catching himself in his  
haste). "Dr. McCoy—" he said, over Laura's shoulder. "Need you to take a look at those things. Apparently they're bigger."

"That is generally what happens with developing babies," Dr. McCoy said dryly.

"I mean—_POOF_ big," Julian spread his hands in a gesture of expansion. "Like a ShamWow or something!"

Laura folded her arms, annoyed.

"I see," Dr. McCoy straightened. "No harm in looking. Meet me in the examination room in five minutes and we'll measure your offspring with the machine."

**…**

"Well—that is quite surprising," Dr. McCoy said, looking at the screen. Even Julian could see what had happened; he was pale, and holding Laura's hand very tightly in fear.

They looked completely done. And quite big.

"Oh, **_SHIT_**," Julian swallowed hard.

"Language, children," Dr. McCoy said mildly, still watching the screen. The boy waved his fist in the image and kicked; Laura twitched slightly.

"How—how soon are they coming out?" Laura asked, her forehead wrinkled. "I was planning a rather lovely summer with the last few months of my life."

"Have you been experiencing any side effects? Heart burn, leg cramps?"

"No."

"Insomnia?"

"No."

"Have either of the babies begun to hiccough?"

Laura shook her head. "What would it feel like?"

"Somewhat like kicking, but more rhythmic in nature. You may confuse the two...the best way is to time how long it goes on for."

Laura shook her head again. "The only sensations I've had are little flutters. They did go on for a while this morning—but that really felt like kicking, it was pretty  
violent. I thought a foot was going to come out of my wahoozle!"

Dr. McCoy folded his arms, holding his paw to his mouth to conceal his smile. "I'd give it two weeks. Perhaps three. This is definitely going to be an early delivery.  
Odd—how it happened so suddenly—I—"

"Oh my god," Julian said, looking like he wanted to cry. "Can't we just turn her powers off or something?!"

Dr. McCoy smiled. "No, I'm afraid not. The babies are connected to her system, and such an action could harm them."

"Well, this is harming _me_," Julian grumbled, looking away.

"Don't be a baby, Keller. I already have too many," Laura said snidely.

**…**

Julian and Laura were silent the entire next day, neither having reassuring words for the other. Comfort was all good and well when they had been speaking about  
a far-off event in the future—but now the event approached with terrifying illumination, and each fought thoughts about running off in the other direction and  
never looking back.

At lunch, Laura made an 'ow!' noise, while Julian was drinking. He slammed the drink down on the table and it showered up, spilling everywhere.

"Was that a _contraction_?!" he asked, almost accusingly.

"No, you dumbass," Laura snapped. "One of them kicked my bellybutton. They seem to think it's a soccer ball or something. I'm quite sure it's the boy, it's always  
more painful when the left one does it. Then they do this synchronized kicking thing—"

Julian rubbed his forehead. "Oh, god, Laura, what are we going to do? I'm so fucking scared right now."

"You think I'm not scared?" Laura asked. She looked to the side, sucking her tongue with a sour expression. "I suppose we could call my mother. I mean, we're hardly  
prepared—we put off the parenting courses till the last two months—been too busy playing super hero and getting people toasted. Serves us right that the last golden  
moments got snatched away!"

"You make us sound like such good people," Julian grumbled. "Yeah. Get her over here. I think I should have some kind of certificate or something before I'm allowed to  
handle two impressionable young children. I mean, I've been training for three years to be an _X-man_, and I'm _still_ not ready…and that doesn't even involve responsibility,  
when you think about it."

Laura ran her tongue stud over her teeth.

"I want you to take that thing out!" Julian changed the topic suddenly. "Two kids are enough! The second they're out we have to be really, really careful, Laura!"

Laura grinned. "I'm sure you won't have to worry about that for a while after 'they're out', Keller. You're going to see some nasty stuff, and according to what I've read,  
I'm going to want to neuter you for a few months after the big event. OHO—that's an idea—_snip snip!_"

"Fuck off," Julian leaned back in his seat with a sudden urge to distance himself from her. "Oh god—we have to talk to Frost, too. The house. I don't think our neighbors  
are going to appreciate being woken up by two little monsters every night! I know I won't."

Laura rolled her eyes. "They only cry like nuts if you're neglectful, Keller," she said.

"Laura—I saw what my brother James was like. Why do you think I'm so freakin' scared about this? Mom made me help with him, when I was five! I dropped him once and  
I got screamed at for hours! By both! I'm afraid of babies."

"Now he tells me," Laura said, sighing. "Well—okay. ASAP—you go see Emma, I'll call mom. It's not like I can hold them back or anything. When they come out, they come out, right?"

Julian nodded, leaning his mouth on his hands. His forehead was wrinkled.

**…**

Friday. "You okay?" Julian huffed, hefting his backpack. They were following Xorn and the rest of the Special Ed class up a steep incline, on a day-trip through the Xavier grounds.  
They were planning to camp for the night in the 'great outdoors'. At first, they had protested; with Laura now close to delivering, it could be dangerous, but Xorn had insisted they  
come. They had appealed to Emma, and she had pointed out that should Laura suddenly enter labor, Julian was more than capable of flying her back. There was no way of  
escaping their punishment.

"Mmm. I think they like it out here," Laura said. "No one's kicked for ages. Except for my spine feeling like one white-hot rod of pain, I'd almost think it was just me in here  
again. Kind of nice."

"Pfft." Julian pressed his hand against her lower back gently.

"I think they're going to be really good runners," Laura added. "Or tap dancers. Hey, I know, we can whore them out like Shirley Temple! Keep them busy and make  
money. The Shrimps can be their stage name. They—"

"The good thing about the whole two-week deadline is you'll be too busy to talk anymore," Julian cut in. Laura's mouth snapped shut and she glared back at him.

"Two-week deadline? Huh?" Santo had jogged up behind them. "Ohhhh, you guys are talking about your kids again. Gross! Teach _you_ not to play with wahoozles, huh Julian?"

"What is it with that word?" Julian asked, raising his eyebrow.

Santo grinned. "'Coz it's just plain awesome," he said.

"She might pop in two weeks," Julian said. "Don't tell Cessily," he added quickly.

"WHAT?!" Santo stopped in his tracks. "DUDE! Two WEEKS? And you're spending it HERE? What the hell is the matter with you?!"

Julian rolled his eyes. "Not like we have a choice. Keep walking, soldier, or the General's gonna notice."

"Hrumpf." Santo picked up the pace again and eyed Laura warily. "So where are they comin' out of?" he asked.

"My nostrils," Laura said sarcastically. "I sneeze really hard, and—"

"You know what I meant," Santo cut her off.

"She's going au natural," Julian said.

"Ugh! Gross!" Santo shook his head. "I saw a cousin bein' born. That's why I wasn't so upset when I got my powers…I could live without sex after that. It was the  
grossest thing I ever saw. So much blood, and mucus—and fluid—and—"

"Oh, god," Julian paled. "I'm not going to stand at that end."

"I'm glad I don't have to see it either," Laura said. "I feel bad for Dr. McCoy. Everyone else will be up at the pretty end, waiting to see cuddly, pink babies…and he'll be  
dealing with the graphic horror of extracting them from the slimy hell hole they come out of."

Julian snorted.

"Ewww," Santo said.

Then his eyes widened. "_**EWWWWWWWWWW! I THINK I JUST STEPPED ON A SLUG!!!**_"

**…**

They sat around the campfire in a circle, their faces illuminated by the crackling flames. Santo sat beside Julian, and he beside Laura, then Barnell and Xorn. Basilisk sat  
beside Santo, then Ernst, Martha and Ruth; Catfish sat the furthest away—straight across from Laura. He snuck glances at her between glaring daggers at Julian,  
sucking on the tip of his tentacle all the while.

Laura turned her head so he couldn't see and mouthed explicatives to Julian, rolling her eyes. A smile got by his control.

"Mister Xorn? You gonna teach us more 'bout humans now?" Basilisk asked, leaning back on his hands.

Barnell squawked.

Xorn glanced around the group. He was sitting in a cross-legged lotus position, his fingertips together, surrounded by his usual peaceful aura.

"Yes," he said softly. "Perhaps I will." He paused, taking a long, deep breath.

Laura and Julian exchanged glances. This was new—both reasoned that it must be part of the children's therapy—teaching them not to fear those who had  
persecuted them so harshly in their lives.

"We have all suffered at the hands of humans," Xorn said, in the same lulling, relaxing tone. "Terrible crimes that—should it be one of their own—they  
would be executed for. I was chained for years, in a dark prison, with a metal mask dividing me from the beautiful world. My trials were light compared  
to many. Let me tell you the story of a young boy I met two weeks ago."

"In just ten days, this boy would have become something new. Wonderful. Beautiful." Xorn paused. "Unique, as any of you are unique."

"She's not unique—she's just a clone," Santo said, pointing at Laura.

"…" Xorn watched them for a moment. Laura glared at Santo.

"He was rare. Something we have never seen before. Only ten days, and this boy would have grown into a fantastic creature. The humans…the humans do not  
understand. They believe we are a cancer, something to be removed from their bodies." Xorn's eyes glowed in the dark.

"They do not realize it is they who are the cancer. Self-defeating. Homo superior is the body, and Homo sapiens the disease. It is our duty, children—our _  
birthright_—to heal our body. Rid ourselves of the cancer."

"_Hyukk_," Basilisk said.

Silence. Nods of agreement from Ernst, Basilisk, Catfish. Blindfold's head remained still; Martha bobbed gently in the breeze. Julian, Laura and Santo  
watched Xorn with raised eyebrows.

A cricket chirruped in the background.

"You sound awfully familiar," Julian said. "I don't mean disrespect, Professor Xorn—but as per my understanding, what you're saying is against  
everything the X-men stand for."

Xorn turned his head. "The X-men. Ah, yes. Tell me this, Hellion—did the X-men extract justice on the facility and the people that tortured your wife—raped  
her—or did _you_? Do not be hypocritical—indecision and hypocrisy are the two most dishonorable qualities in a man, or a mutant."

Julian paused. He couldn't exactly say he hadn't caused some damage; he'd been hazy from drugs, and angrier than hell…and bad things happened when  
he was thinking angry thoughts. He vaguely remembered a medicine cabinet, and toxins, and needles. Something about lifeless bodies.

"I—"

"Damn, Keller, he's got you pegged there," Laura murmured, her hand on her stomach. "You're like—what—all of the things he said. I'm so proud that my  
children are related to you."

Julian made a face. Santo grinned. "And he looks like a pineapple," he added.

"…" Xorn took a breath again. "When the humans come to tear the school down—to take the lives of your friends—with their big, shiny guns, and their  
bombs, and their hatred—will you let them?"

Silence again.

"I won't let anyone hurt my friends," Santo grunted.

"What are you saying?" Julian pressed, leaning forwards. "Are you suggesting we go out and murder people? Genocide? Like Hitler? Like _Magneto_?"

Xorn tilted his head. "Interesting, you say the latter with more emphasis than the former. Yet he only defended his people, sought to make them champions  
and secure their rightful place in the chain of evolution. Without propaganda. He did not need lies about faith, like Hitler. He did not need gas chambers and  
tall barbed-wire fences. Or dank prisons with iron masks. He only sought to right a wrong, and you believe him to be a murderer?"

"He killed people," Julian said, his eyes glowing now too.

"Disease kills people. Poverty kills people. People kill people, in wars." Xorn was now watching him specifically. "Your teachers have killed people. Your wife has  
killed people. _You_ have killed people, Hellion."

"I get it—I'm a hypocrite," Julian said. "But I'm a much smaller one. Just because one or two apples in the bucket had worms and needed to be thrown away,  
didn't mean all of them should have been tossed."

"Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater?" Xorn countered. "Humans have had their gifted ones. Their Picassos, their Einsteins, their Michelangelos. But  
it goes beyond people—beyond single beings. It is the greater picture." Xorn looked at the rest of the group. "Are we ready for this greater picture, children?"

"Yes, Mister Xorn," Basilisk said solemnly.

Ernst nodded. Martha bobbed contentedly; even Barnell seemed to agree, his head jerking up and down, a dreamy look on his face.

"…" Santo looked at Julian for guidance, still viewing him as the team leader (even when there was no team). Laura put her hand on Julian's shoulder, and he  
made a shh gesture to both of them.

"Very good. Our next class, then, on Monday, we will have our first field trip. We will put an end to our problem."

Basilisk grinned. "After board games?"

"…" Xorn looked at him. "Yes."


	45. 12: SEd 4:5 complaints to the headmrs

**A/N: **Thx for the reviews! Yup, I liked the last two chapters very much too. Lots of character building. Another note...what's also nice is I didn't _read_ Volume 6 of new X-men,  
the comic-book volume that this arc is based on. I've only read plot outlines. So this is _my_ take on the plot, all written without seeing script, but with the same general idea. =)

* * *

**( Volume: 2 Arc: "special ed" 12 Issue: 3/5 )**

 **Chapter 74: complaints to the headmistress ******

**

* * *

  
**

Saturday morning. Back in their room, Julian was seated in the computer chair, and Laura was sitting on the bed, her hands behind her to  
help support her now quite large stomach.

"Crapfuck. The problems are just piling up," Julian said, rubbing his face. "What do we do—take a crash course in parenting or spend our  
weekend convincing Frost that she's got the next Magneto training her special needs students?!"

Laura sighed. "How about we wait for me to pop, and let the male Shrimp loose on him? Let me tell you, this one's a wildcat. A couple  
pinches and Xorn won't know what hit him." She rubbed her belly; she'd just had an especially vicious pinch in the center, and she blamed the boy.

"I'm being serious," Julian said, gritting his teeth. "We need to do something. Fuck—why can't we not be in a bad situation for once?!  
Everything always goes to crap, and then it looks like its _our_ fault! Even our punishment can't go smoothly! What the hell!"

"I should probably tell you…by this point, the Shrimps can hear everything we're saying. So they probably know a million swear words by  
now. Just a little FYI."

"Fantastic," Julian said sarcastically. "So, to top it off, my kids got treated to a brainwashing, courtesy of the Magneto wannabe?"

Laura wrinkled her nose. "I guess."

"Terrific. Here's hoping they don't off grandma," Julian leaned his cheek on his hand. "Laura…seriously. What do we do? Do you  
think Frost will believe us?"

"I don't know, Keller. _You're_ the leader. Of whatever's going on now. This is why I never take responsibility—when the shit hits the fan, I  
like my name to not be tied to the mess." She rolled her eyes at Julian's impatient look. "Jee-eez, okay, Mr. Serious. Go try your councilor,  
if you think she'll listen to you after all the trouble we caused during the term. I mean, there's no way things can get worse,  
right? Meanwhile, I'll just take a nice little nap here and—"

"No dice, Preggos," Julian stood up. "You're coming." He grinned. "Ohhh, that was a bad one. Maybe that should be your codename!"

"Preggos and Captain Two-second?" Laura countered. "One second for each twin. HAH!"

"Whatever. You know that's a total lie, anyway." He reached out with his hand and caught hers, pulling her up carefully. "Damn, those  
things must be like turkeys in there—you're heavy."

"The Butterballs," Laura said, following him out of the room, her hand still in his.

**…**

_It's open._

"My favorite students," Emma said coldly, looking up from her desk as the door opened slowly, and Julian peered in, Laura visible behind him. "What  
duty are you trying to shirk now? You know, if you do not work for your board and food, there is no way you can continue to remain in this school,  
my darlings. I won't allow it—even if two are now becoming four."

Julian swallowed. "Miss Frost—it's not—we're not trying to get out of anything. It's…" he paused. "Can we come in? I don't want to be overheard."

Emma gestured to the empty chairs in front of her desk. "I have paperwork, but I suppose I will allow this interruption, out of curiosity, if nothing  
else, to see what excuse you've come up with this time."

The pair entered the room. Laura shut the door behind them.

"This is hard to say," Julian mumbled, rubbing his neck. "You're not going to believe me. This is why we don't come to you with stuff."

Emma arched an eyebrow. "And what do you have for me?"

"Xorn's crazy," Laura said bluntly. "He gave us a Magneto-esque speech last night, in the woods. It was spooky. It was a great imitation—they  
must have the same speech-writer or something."

Emma watched them silently.

"I trust Professor Xorn," she said coldly. "He has done many wonderful things for the children in his class. And he is quite engaging and enlightening  
in talks around the water cooler. I am, quite frankly, surprised that you two have learned nothing from him. I had hoped that time spent in his  
presence might stimulate maturity in at least _one_ of you."

"But Miss Frost—"

"No buts, Mr. Keller. Please return to your leisure time, and allow me to continue my paperwork unhampered." Emma picked some papers off the pile.

"One more thing—" Julian said. "That house."

Emma looked up. "The construction is beginning next month, Mr. Keller. It will be completed by August, for certain."

"That's great, because they suddenly decided to come out in about two weeks," Laura said.

Emma stared at her.

"Her healing factor kicked in," Julian said, his displeasure obvious. "Dr. McCoy estimated we have about two, three weeks till D-Day. We don't know how  
advanced they will be when they come out—apparently they might hit the ground running."

"Hmmm." Emma leaned back in her chair. "This is certainly an unexpected surprise." She paused. "I will see what I can do. Please return to your room—I  
shall contact you in the morning with the fruits of my efforts." She smiled slightly—the first sign of warmth she had expressed to either since the  
accident with Sophie.

**…**

Sunday.

"Grr. Forget Magneto—try finding a weekend crash-course in parenting," Julian mumbled. He'd been searching Google for an hour, to no effect, while  
Laura had been on the phone with her mother. She'd just hit the end button.

She sighed. "You know what I think we should do?"

"Not sure I want to," Julian said, his eyes fixed on the screen.

Laura wrinkled her nose. "I think we should get the Cuckoos to do a brain-dump for us."

"That sounds disgusting," Julian clicked a new link. "I like my head clean, thanks."

"You know what I meant, asshole," Laura said, tossing the phone into the pillows behind her and stretching out carefully on her side. "We just sit  
there—they brain-tap some parenting coach while he or she is sleeping—and brain-tap us—and BAM!—we're the worlds greatest parents, ever. Never  
get worn out because we just know what to do right away."

Julian raised his eyebrows. "Hmm." He paused. "We were kinda sorta involved in the death of their sister, though, Laura. And what if they can't do it anymore?"

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" Laura said. "We're desperate! I'm going to be whelping any day now. I think we deserve a break, Keller."

**…**

"She went down this way," Laura said. They'd been looking for the Cuckoos for the last hour, finally relying on Laura's bloodhound training to find their  
classmates. Outside of their room, Laura had picked up Esme's scent as the freshest, and they'd followed it down the hall and into the main corridor  
that led to the staircase.

Laura descended the stairs carefully and reached the entry hallway, still sniffing. "She went outside. About an hour ago." Julian followed her to the  
door, then stopped her and got their shoes and jackets. "Want fresh turkeys, not frozen," he joked, pausing to kiss her (something he hadn't done  
in the past couple of days).

After shrugging on their jackets and struggling with their shoes (Julian had to help Laura with hers, as she couldn't even see her feet anymore), they  
went outside, still following the trail. _Snff, snff_. Laura pointed towards the woods, and they walked across the lawn, admiring the springtime flowers  
and the bright blue sky. A squirrel ran by and Laura twitched, then remembered that Catfish wasn't present.

They entered the woods and walked along for about five minutes, when Laura stopped and held up her hand, quite suddenly.

"Voices," she whispered.

"How far ahead?" Julian whispered back.

"About two hundred meters. Maybe three."

"Why the fuck are we whispering then?" Julian asked in his normal voice, rolling his eyes.

"I don't know," Laura said.

They ventured deeper into the woods. Laura began to frown as they walked along, then stopped again. "Keller…I can hear them now, what  
they're saying," she whispered. Her eyes widened. "Oh my—oh my god. It's _Esme!_"

"Huh?" Julian was confused.

"Esme—she's been—" Laura frowned. "There's another voice. Xorn—wait, no—he did something—it's Max—from the bar…oh my fuck. I get  
it now. I get _everything_ now."

"Oh, look, the Kellers," the Cuckoo said, stepping out from behind a tree. She smiled. "I'd ask if you wanted some, too, but I've got it on good  
authority that you're not into the game. Shame, really—you could do with a little extra lift."

She eyed Laura.

"Are you talking about Kick?" Julian asked, suddenly getting the message. "Are _you_ the Kick dealer, Esme?!"

"Smart boy." Esme smiled. "No—not what you wanted though. Silly children, follow the wolf into the woods. You chased the wrong sister—I'm  
not the drone you're looking for. Or clone. It's all about clones, isn't it?" She twirled a finger in her blond hair. "Sleep, Julian."

Julian sunk to his knees, already asleep; Laura watched him go.

"He's rather pretty when he sleeps," Esme observed. "I always pretended to dislike him—but I got to have some nice experiences."

"S-sophie?" Laura asked through stiff jaws.

"Clever of you," Esme smiled. "Thought you should know who was really the one enjoying your man. He's got quite a nice body." She looked at  
Laura; the pregnant girl's knees suddenly folded, in jerky motions, until she, too, was lying on the ground.

"I tried to make it a smooth landing for you, dear," Esme said, standing over them. "I wouldn't want to hurt two lovely little mutant babies. Oh,  
they are, they are, and they will be. Change is coming—great change—all on Monday. But it's time for you to have a little nap first."

Laura's eyes slid shut; Esme smiled, twisted her book bag full of inhalers around her body, and headed towards the school.

**…**

"Phew! Phew!" Laura spat dirt out of her mouth and sat up. It was dark out, now; her back was killing her, and Julian was still out cold, his chest  
rising and falling quite rhythmically. Was he—yes he was—he was _snoring_.

She crawled over to him and tapped the side of his face with her fingers. "Keller—Keller—wake up. We've been hijacked. Keller?" She slapped him a  
bit harder, and he raised his hand to bat her away, like she was a fly.

"The babies are coming now," she whispered.

His eyes shot open and he sat up quite violently. "_**WHAT?!**_"

"Nothing," Laura had to grin at his reaction. "Darn, that's such a good one. I wasted all this time I could have been using it on you…"

"Fuck _that_." Julian brushed dirt off his sleeves. "Right…so back to Emma I guess? Tell her another Cuckoo is malfunctioning? Damn things are all  
faulty, if you ask me."

"You kept saying you banged them all, at once," Laura said. "Which I find hard to believe, based on the fact that you only have one joystick."

Julian grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Have you told Frost that, too?" Laura persisted. "I'm sure she'd approve. Her favorite girls and, well, her favorite boy pairing up. Like selective breeding."

Julian snorted. "You can tell her, if you want," he said. "I think she likes you too, though." He frowned, remembering something. "What was that you  
were telling me—before she showed up?"

Laura opened her eyes wide and grabbed his wrist. She'd forgotten, in the blur of mental confusion. "KELLER! Xorn was there! But he's not Xorn! He took  
off his mask…and he sounded just like Max, from the bar! The Kick dealer!"

Julian frowned, watched her for a second.

"Oh my god. Xorn is Magneto," he said suddenly. "We have Magneto at our school, Laura. Oh my god. _**FUCK!**_****"

"What—" Laura's eyebrows drew together.

"The plasma thing he hit me with! And don't you remember—he pinned your hands to the wall in that alley—it was the metal."

Laura looked down the path again. "You're right," she said. "We have to tell."

Julian heaved her to her feet, then wrapped his arms around her and suddenly they were very high in the air, something he hadn't done for a long time.

"KELLER!" Laura yelped. "They say pregnant women shouldn't fly! I have to be kept at a certain air pressure at all times, or I might explode in prenatal juices!"

"Interesting," he said. They were already near the institute, in a blur of green.

"Like a grape!" Laura added for emphasis. "Put me down!"

"Alright, alright, jeez. Killjoy Keller," he said, sweeping to the ground and setting her down on the stairs.

**…**

"_Eeesme!_ You can't just walk away like this!" Mindee, Celeste and Phoebe said as their sister dragged a large, wheeled luggage down the stairs. __

Thump thump thump, it made a rather sinister, hollow sound on the wooden surface.

"I can do what I like," Esme said independently. "I've called a taxi telepathically. I'm going to dye my hair and scrawl my name across the world." She  
looked over her shoulder, and her glowing eyes narrowed on her sisters. "So you can just shut up. All of you."

She resumed her task of dragging the suitcase down the stairs; all at once there were three extra thumps as her sisters collapsed against each other.

"Amateurs," she said lightly.

**…**

Emma regarded her students icily as Laura, Julian, and the three Cuckoos stood in front of her desk, their arms folded. They had found the girls  
unconscious in the hallway, and had swapped stories.

"Esme Cuckoo has flown the coop," Laura said. "HAHA! Oh, I'm sorry, that was terrible."

The three remaining sisters looked annoyed. "Vvvery funny," they said.

"I see," Emma said. She straightened in her seat. "Well. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do—if her mind is made up, then that is how it will  
remain. However…I will relate it to the staff. Please return to your rooms; the situation will be dealt with accordingly." Emma looked sharply  
at Julian and Laura. "You _will_ go tomorrow with Xorn's class, understood?"

"Miss Frost—Xorn is Magneto," Julian said bluntly.

"…" Emma arched her eyebrow. "Mister Keller. I will not tolerate more slurs towards that man. I trust him with my school—with my children. Dismissed."

"Emma—we met him before—without his helmet! He pinned me to a wall in an alley with my hands—and he hit Julian with a magnetic field—and I heard  
Xorn in the woods, taking his mask off in front of Esme—and his voice changed! It was the same guy!" Laura was leaning on Emma's desk now to make  
her point. "Trust me! I've scent-marked him! I'm a bloodhound, like Logan—"

"Dismissed, Laura," Emma said fiercely. "Everyone will return to their rooms, now, or I will be forced to discipline you in ways I would rather not."

**…**

"Wwwe can't just go to our rooms," the girls said angrily. "Wwwe can't just go sleep. Our sister is in trouble! Something terrible is going on in this school!"

"Yeah, I agree," Julian said, folding his arms. They were in the main hallway, standing, uncertain. Not knowing what to do next. What did one do on the  
verge of apocalypse, when no one would believe them?

"We need Santo here," Julian said. "The team. We need the team—they'll listen, if the X-men won't." He looked up the stairs. "Fuck being grounded—and  
working in a place I hate—I'd rather be alive than dead!"

Laura and the Cuckoos nodded.

"Girls—can you call everyone together?" Julian asked. "To my room. Emma can't get us if we're doing what she said. Get Barnell too, please…he's our only  
hope of saving that class without violence."

The Cuckoos were silent for a moment. "Wwwe've told them," they said. "Bbbut we can't reach Barnell, for some reason. It's all fuzzy where he is."

"Xorn must have a telepath helping him," Celeste said independently.

"A strong one," Phoebe added. "She's quite good."

"Or we're just weaker without Esme and Sophie," Mindee said soberly.

"Oh my—do you think it's Esme causing the fuzz?" Laura asked. "Can she do that? Can you read her mind?"

"She cut off her link with us," Phoebe said. "She's blocked us off." Mindee.

"Sounds awfully suspicious," Julian said. "Fine. Laura, you go to our room with the girls—I'm going to go collect Barnell." He turned; Laura caught his sleeve.

"I'm coming," she said firmly. "In case he's booby-trapped or something."

Julian considered her, then nodded. They hurried to the front door, Julian thinking out loud. "We have to try to talk some sense into him, at least. I don't  
know what's going on, but I really don't think he'd want to hurt anybody, right?"

"Barnell wouldn't hurt a fly on his own," Laura said. "But brainwashing can do funny things to people, Keller. Believe me. I…" she left the sentence unfinished;  
it dipped into her childhood memories, which she avoided. And the room in the back of her mind.

**…**

"Huh, look who it is," Angel said, opening the door a crack. She grinned at Laura. "Wow, you're big. Tito's been asking about when his playmates are going to be ready."

"About two weeks from now," Laura said.

"We need to talk to Barnell," Julian said firmly.

"No dice. Man of the house ain't here," Angel said, raising her eyebrow. "When you pop, you wanna have a girl's night out to celebrate?"

"Course," Laura said. "Do you know where Barnell might have gone?"

"I dunno. He mentioned something about the Special Ed group or something. Something about having to help Mister Xorn prepare for tomorrow's field trip or  
something." Angel made a face. "That group is so fucked up, if you ask me. I used to go to it—caught that little brain-girl trying to sneak into my head more  
than a few times."

"Wha—Esme?" Laura asked.

"No. Why would a Cuckoo bother with the retard group?" Angel laughed. "I meant Martha, the brain in the bubble. You must have seen her around—"

"Oh, wow, that makes sense," Julian said. "No wonder they're all so easy with the idea. Martha's always there—and I bet she's mad as hell at humans."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Angel asked, frowning.

"There's trouble," Laura said grimly. "We made a little discovery—Xorn is actually Magneto—and he's been working with Esme Cuckoo to sell Kick to the  
school. And that 'field trip' the class is doing tomorrow isn't so innocent and scholastic."

"Huh?" Angel tilted her head. "Magneto is dead—he died in Genosha."

"That's what he'd like you to believe," Julian said, looking back towards the school. "Sorry Angel—we've got to find Barnell. We'll catch you later."

"HEY!" Angel yelled as they took off, jogging. "What about ME?! How come I always get left behind with the babies?! It'll happen to you too, Laura!"

"Mum?" Tito was hugging her leg. "Where's dad?"

"Can't help you, bird-brain," Angel sighed, holding the doorframe and looking down. "You want supper? I can make mac and cheese."

Tito nodded hopefully.


	46. 12: special ed 4:5 pilgrimage

**A/N: **Ohh, been up studying and decided to treat myself to another post.  
**SONG TITLE: **from _NiN,_ song is instrumental called '_Pilgrimage_'.

**  


* * *

Volume: 2 Arc: "special ed" 12 Issue: 4/5 )  
** **Chapter 75: pilgrimage ******

* * *

Monday.

"Santo—if something happens—stick by us, okay?" Julian mumbled to his friend as they met outside the classroom door. "I got a real bad  
feeling about today. Someone's going to get hurt. I don't want it to be you."

"Dude…my theme song is 'like a rock'. I can't get hurt," Santo grinned. "You didn't mention all this shit when you talked about all the cool  
stuff that happens in this class! I feel ripped off."

"Oh, my god. I was complaining, Santo…my exact words to you were 'help me' if I remember correctly!" Julian looked annoyed.

Santo grinned.

Laura opened the door, silent. The heads of the Special Ed students swiveled, almost as one unit, to see them. Hostile. It was an eerie effect;  
even Barnell seemed to join in. They hadn't been able to find him last night.

Martha bobbed gently in the background.

"Hellion. X-23. Rockslide. Please come in." Xorn said, his voice soft. Laura now thought it was cloying, as well.

Click. The door shut behind them, on its own accord. An ominous noise. Laura noted that the doorknob was metal. How stupid of her to think the  
door was leaning on its hinges, that first time.

"We are going on a field trip today," Xorn continued. "A learning experience, to be shared by all of us. Today, we will learn what it is like to be in  
control." He looked at Laura. "X-23, please fetch Catfish's harness."

"_Mrreoww_," Catfish said, looking delighted.

**…**

Xorn marched towards the staircase, his students in tow.

"What the hell are we doing?!" Julian asked, his hand tightly around Laura's. Snff. Laura smelled fear—he was afraid. He hadn't been so afraid when  
Quire had pulled his stunts—probably because he'd known the boy was just a wannabe, with enormous power but no real clue as to what to do with them.

Magneto was an entirely different story. Magneto knew exactly what he was doing, and wasn't afraid, at all, to do it. He'd killed hundreds—thousands—of  
humans before—without a second thought. And he'd do it again.

Laura felt fear too—her mother would be on a plane the next evening. She'd called her the night before last. And the Shrimps…what if they were humans?

Aside from the other overwhelmingly horrible facets of the situation—would Magneto murder her children?

"We are going to pay a visit to a dear old friend of mine," Xorn—or, rather, Magneto—said thoughtfully. "Yes." He looked up the staircase, withdrew an  
inhaler, and inserted it in the glowing mouth of his helmet.

A Kick inhaler.

Magneto was on Kick.

Julian looked at Laura, horrified. There was no way—_no way_—they could fight him. Magneto was ascending the staircase now, his small army beside him. He  
wasn't walking anymore—he was floating. Julian, Laura and Santo followed, speechless, realizing the hopelessness of the situation.

What could they do?

Up the staircase, up, up, to the hallway. To the next staircase. Julian racked his brain—if they were going where he thought they were going, they would need  
help. He tried desperately to attract the Cuckoo's mental attentions.

He doubted any of the children would be enough to actually hurt Magneto though. Let alone take him down.

_**Julian,**_ the combined mental voice of the Cuckoos. _**We'll be there. We have told him—but there is nothing we can do. Xorn's helmet is thought-proof.**_

**…**

The doorway. A familiar, double oak door, that Julian had seen before—just recently, in a similar situation, with Quire's gang. Professor Xavier's door.

Magneto raised a hand; the doors blew open, inwards. The Professor was sitting at his desk, smiling, a book open before him. He looked calm, pleasant—his  
eyes were twinkling. He stood up.

"We're not with him! I swear!" Julian tried to mouth, his eyes wide.

Silence.

"Tea, Erik?" Professor Xavier offered, gesturing to the desk. Two cups were on the table. "With two sugars, the way you like it."

"That is beside the point, Charles," Magneto said, folding his arms as he stood before the desk. "You know why I am here, of course."

Xavier tilted his head. "Of course. I may not be able to penetrate that wonderful helmet of yours—but I am, nonetheless, aware of your grand schemes."

"Planet X," Magneto said, tilting his helmeted head. He reached up and undid a clasp on the Xorn-mask; it parted, revealing his more familiar guard, and his noble  
features—his eyes burning with fanatical fire. "I may have named it after those who will rule it—the possessors of the X gene—but a tiny part of me wants to  
name it in your honor. You were a wonderful friend, Charles, and no amount of differences in view will ever change that."

Xavier smiled. "I'm glad a part of you remains, Erik. Please reconsider this."

"I'm afraid that's out of the question, dear sir." Magneto opened his hand, which had been in a fist.

Xavier's eyes widened and he wilted into his chair. "Erik—"

"What the hell did you just do to him?!" Julian asked, starting.

Magneto grinned, amused. "Ah, _Jules_, I have merely reversed a gift I had granted him earlier—whence I had turned another of his adversary's curses into  
a rather splendid treat for him."

"Nano-sentinels," Xavier gasped, struggling for breath. His legs had sunk down in an awkward position, forcing his ribs into the chair and making it hard to  
breathe. He struggled to raise himself on his arms. "Children—"

"The children are with me, Charles," Magneto said. "I have also given them a gift—the gift of truth. I have freed them, awakened them to their potential."

"Not us!" Santo snapped. "The only truth you've shown us is that you're a washed-up addict who uses mentally handicapped children to get what he  
wants! You're pretty pathetic!"

Magneto turned his head.

"_Heyyyy!_ We're not mentally handicapped!" Basilisk protested.

_**BAM.**_ Santo exploded in a cloud of dust.

"NO!" Julian tore free from Laura's grip; there wasn't even pebbles left.

"You sick fuck up!" He sent a shockwave at Magneto, who easily countered it, as if it had been a light breeze that had moved a lock of hair aside.

Scuffles. Running footsteps. Sofia appeared at the door, her eyes wide; behind her, the Cuckoos, and the other students.

"Julian!" Sofia called. He turned; Magneto pulled on the halves of his X-jacket, and revealed his normal garb, complete with his flowing, crimson cape.

Everyone was lifted into the air. The roof parted easily, groaning slightly—they were thousands of feet in the air, soaring towards New York, unable to fight—most not wanting to.

Esme was beside Magneto, smiling.

"Okay, we're really screwed now," Julian mumbled to Laura, who nodded shakily. They were still clear-headed, for some reason, although the students who  
had come to help them were not.

They seemed to have joined Magneto's cause.

It couldn't get worse.

**…**

It did.

"Let us begin, children! We will set the world an example, to give them a taste of things to come!" Magneto had set them down on an enormous platform—in a  
stadium. Yankee Stadium. It was empty. "Are we ready?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's get this show on the road!" Basilisk said.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Ernst said. "Martha says she's ready."

"Are any of us ever really ready?" Barnell asked dreamily.

Julian looked around at the other students—his friends. Sofia—Josh—Cessily—David—Nori—staring at Magneto with expressions of rapt attention. Their eyes blank.

The Cuckoos—struggling—expressions flickering across their faces.

Esme Cuckoo (her arms folded) and Martha were on Magneto's either side.

"We need an audience to witness what we are going to do!" Magneto said. "We need victims for our crematoria!"

"Crema-whatsits?" Laura asked.

Magneto held out his hand; Esme turned to him and slapped a Kick inhaler into his palm. He tilted his head back, inserted the inhaler—and inhaled—then dropped the  
plastic tube to the floor. _Clunk._

He raised his arms to the sky—and the sky seemed to split open. Laura gave a little gasp, feeling like her claws would tear out of her limbs—she'd never felt anything  
so powerful. A solid column of blue—a pillar—a beam—was focused on the center of the stadium.

The wind whipped around them, the air molecules out of control from the incredible force of the disturbance. Sofia blinked, feeling the waves.

People—hundreds—thousands—were pouring out of the sky, screaming, all caught by the metal in their blood. It wasn't stopping. The stadium was filling, filling—thousands  
had grown to ten thousand, twenty thousand—thirty—forty—fifty—it kept going—and going—until it was full. Julian stepped back, his face completely drained of color.

"Laura," he said, that was all.

"Good!" Magneto said, folding his arms. The column disappeared; the stadium was now jam-packed with people, in the center, and the surrounding seats. Laura  
swallowed—she knew the stadium seated 57,000 people—without counting the playing field.

They were about to witness genocide.

Magneto looked at his watch. "Hmm. I shall wait a minute longer…two of my finest associates shall be here…I wouldn't want them to miss this treat."

"We're here, sir." A woman was walking towards them, her skin rippling to blue. With glowing yellow eyes. "I'm touched you would wait for us, Magneto. You've only got  
every right in the world to this—after Genosha."

Magneto smiled. "It is not me they owe a debt to—it is mutantkind."

A green man hopped after the woman—the man who had spit up on Julian's face before. He shot the boy a grin.

"Let's begin, then, shall we?" Magneto cracked his knuckles and raised his hand in the air. An enormous black box at the end of the statement suddenly lit up,  
revealing a long, dark tunnel, with one entry. No exit. "My lovely crematoria. It should take a minute to heat up completely. We can amuse ourselves in  
the meantime."

Horrible screaming in the front row, people falling to their knees. Magneto curled his fingers; mists of red floated towards him to form floating silver disks.

"See how I have laid it all out, children? I even have an athletic team in the front row—who have pumped themselves full of vitamins—and minerals. I do so love  
a healthy circulatory system, rich in iron."

Julian turned to Laura. "I'm sorry. I can't watch this. Take care of the babies, tell them I love them." His eyes were glowing; the Kick inhaler soared to his hand.

"NO!" Laura said, but she didn't stop him. He shoved it in his mouth and breathed in, depressing the plunger.


	47. 12: special ed 5:5 lights in the sky

**

* * *

  
( Volume: 2 Arc: "special ed" 12 Issue: 5/5 )**

** Chapter 76: lights in the sky **

* * *

"The crematoria is ready, I believe. Children?" Magneto turned—his eyes widened in surprise. A big green distortion was heading right for him—it blew up in his face,  
and he barely had time to shield himself before it reached his precious brain.

"Heavens!" Magneto coughed; the attack had taken off the outer layers of his epidermal tissue, leaving angry, blotchy red, slightly wet. With bloodshot eyes he  
glared at his opponent—it was that boy—Hellion. "Well, well, it seems there is a non-believer among us. Children?" He made a fist; Julian mirrored him, and his skin  
was surrounded by an air-tight green field.

"I'm not going to let you hurt these people, you crazy old man," he said. His mouth was full of green light, too. "Now you let my friends go, or I'm going to stuff  
you into your special people-cooking machine, got it?"

"No, I don't 'got it', my dear boy," Magneto said. They rose into the air at the same time—and it began. People tried to back away from the enormous flashes of  
light, somewhat like lightning in the dark sky. Laura watched from the stage—then Magneto pointed towards her.

"NO!" Something truly unexpected happened—Catfish soared through the air, and changed into a rather unremarkable looking man, wearing an X-suit—and knocked  
her out of the way. The wooden planking exploded behind them as they tumbled onto the grass.

"What the—" Laura raised the upper half of her body. "Who the hell are you?!"

"That's kinda unimportant just right now," the man said, watching the fight with large eyes. "I really hope your guy up there doesn't lose track and start hitting  
the wrong people. Kick's a shifty substance."

**_BLAM!_** The crematoria blew up at Julian's bidding.

"It was UNIMPORTANT!" Magneto bellowed, his limbs splayed out in the air in an impressive stretch. The atmosphere surrounding him glimmered—sparkled—Laura  
felt the earth shifting under her fingers. "That was never the plan!"

"Oh my god—he's really doing it," the previous Catfish said. "He's reversing the polarity of earth's magnetic field. Forget this stadium. This is _nothing_. He's  
going to kill millions of people!"

In the air, Julian was starting to show strain; he'd never channeled so much energy before. Whereas Magneto's powers utilized energy around him, Julian  
supplied his own—he would eventually run out. He gritted his teeth and interrupted Magneto's earth-changing process with an attempt to put a hole in  
his torso; Magneto whipped around and countered. Two pillars of energy connected them, one green, one bluish-white. Every few moments the pure  
white center tipped closer to either mutant; a second later, it would tip the other way.

"You…can't win," Magneto panted, tightening his fist. His side of the energy grew closer to Julian; it was nearing his hand. He could feel the air around him starting  
to bubble as chemicals reacted with the oxygen in the generated heat. His skin was blistering, his hair singeing. He couldn't keep it up.

His eyes narrowed. "I'm not…letting you kill anyone," he hissed.

A pillar of black fire.

Laura and the man—and the other students—and most of the people on the ground—covered their ears in pain at a very sonorous, ripping sound. Laura's spine trickled  
in fear as for a second, just one second, Julian turned white; then he and Magneto dropped to the ground simultaneously with a loud thud, both their bodies smoking faintly.

"NO!" she scrambled to her feet and ran towards him, afraid. Julian was barely conscious—at least he was alive—he coughed, and blood rolled down from his mouth.

"Hang in there—I have to get Josh," she said. He grabbed her hand.

"Laura—make sure—"

Magneto was holding up his hand, behind her. Pointed at her midsection.

"Oh no you don't!" Esme shouted, running over and pushing his hand out of the way as he attempted to shoot Laura with an electromagnetic pulse. "I might be on the ride  
for some mutant superiority—but murdering mutant babies—" she ripped his helmet aside. "You know—I really didn't like you dumping me," Esme hissed. "You should be  
_ashamed_—I'm an impressionable young girl, and you, along with Kato, have put a bad taste in my mouth."

Her eyes glowed.

"I'm sorry, my dear," Magneto said, raising a trembling hand up as if to stroke her face.

_Ptttcht._ Esme's large hoop earrings twisted straight and disappeared into the sides of her head with a small splatter of blood. She keeled over.

"ESME! No! **_NO NO!_**" Mindee shouted, breaking free, her face contorted in grief. The students were free—there was chaos as they bore down on Magneto.

Laura got to him first.

"_Kill me_, then!" Magneto shouted, his eyes bloodshot. "Kill me if you don't believe these humans should die! Kill me if you believe you are right and I am wrong!"

She looked down at him. "I'll kill you—but not because I think I'm righteous. I'll kill you because you're a pathetic old addict who deserves to be put out of your misery."

_Snikt. Shlop._ The other students covered their mouths, horrified; Laura stood above Magneto's now-lifeless body and withdrew her foot claw. "Josh, please go heal Julian.  
He's not looking so good." She turned her head and closed her eyes, feeling nauseous.

A large jet was approaching; the students looked up.

The X-men—too late.

**…**

"Ok, so the apocalypse is over," Laura said, folding her arms and glaring at Catfish. Julian had been healed and was now sitting on the edge of the platform, holding his  
head (which still ached from the strain, but his lungs were no longer bleeding). "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! And why have you been making my life a living hell for the past month?!"

Catfish grinned.

"He's a friend," a familiar voice said. Logan—walking towards them—in his X-men uniform, a black jacket with a big yellow X over the chest, leather pants, a protective grey  
shirt, ribbed. "My buddy—Morph. We go way back. I sent 'im there to keep an eye on you guys."

Laura's glare transferred to Logan. "What the—did you _tell_ him to be an asshole?!"

"Nah, that's just his nature," Logan said. He and Morph exchanged grins. "Okay, I might have told him to keep you busy. Looked like Keller needed a break."

"GRRR!" Laura popped her claws. "I can't believe you! I…"

"I was also there, keeping an eye on the new teacher," Morph said reasonably. "We always keep an eye on new people. I couldn't really tell you that…Martha's a  
really sneaky telepath."

"Tell me about it," Logan grumbled. "She and Esme managed to scramble Frost's messages to us—we were headed for a fictional mission in Hong Kong by the time  
our boss lady got in touch with us again. God-damn telepaths."

He looked over at Julian. "Your boy toy okay, Laura?"

"I think so," she said. "I—" she hesitated, then, seeing that Cyclops was occupied across the field, continued. "He took a full dose of Kick…there was a big fight…we're  
talking Harry Potter versus Voldemort here. It was pretty major. And I think I saw raptor, Logan."

Her DNA original looked at the boy, sucking his tongue in the same way Laura did sometimes (unconsciously). "Well, damn it all t' hell," he said after a moment. "Just make  
sure he don't flash One-Eye the bird, and we'll be okay. I think." Logan grinned. "Hey, Jeanie was the big bird for quite a while, and she did just fine, right?"

Laura stared at Logan. "Logan—where _is_ Jean?"

"None o' your business, kid," he said comfortably.

"It is. Especially now that he might…"

"Let's focus. The Quarter-Pints okay?"

Laura hid a smile, despite her annoyance that he'd avoided her question. Logan usually referred to herself and the other kids as "Half-Pints".

"I think so. You do know they're coming out in, like, two weeks, right?"

"…" Logan looked alarmed.

"Guess not. Well—SURPRISE!" Laura said, patting her stomach. "I can't believe I haven't miscarried. This whole term has been one disaster after another, despite my  
mother's plans for a nice, constructive school year. Is it always like this at Xavier's?"

"Kinda." Logan shoved his hands in his pockets and scuffed the ground with his shoe. "You really went to hell on Bucket Head, huh?"

"I hate addicts," Laura said coolly. "I decapitated him. He totally deserved it."

"Hrmpf." Logan looked away.

"Where the hell have you been anyway, Logan? Every time I go looking for you with trouble, you're off and away somewhere. You got a secret family or  
something you're not telling us about?"

Logan snorted. "Or somethin'. Tell you when the time is right, half-pint."

"Will you be around for the debut of the Shrimps?" Laura asked casually.

Logan frowned. "Course. My clone is having kids, wouldn't wanna miss it."

"Haha. They're your kids, too. Oh, HAHAHAHA! MR. MOM!!" Laura threw her head back and stomped her feet; Logan growled. "Don't you ever fucking say that again, you little…"

"Oh, god," Julian said from the platform, overhearing Laura's shout and laughter.

**…**

At the mansion, in their room, after a long discussion in Emma's office—being apologized to, by the headmistress. There had been confusion—Emma hadn't wanted them  
to be involved, for their safety—she'd wanted them to continue, like normal, so Xorn/Magneto wouldn't suspect something was up—she'd been relying on Morph to signal  
for help—but he'd been a bit confused and infiltrated by Martha (whom they had no clue was capable of that level of control)—and they hadn't expected Esme to join the fray.

So many excuses. She'd been in diamond form again, and there had been curls of wood on her desk, suspiciously like nail marks. They'd brought Esme's body home, and her  
office door had been closed for about four hours afterwards.

They'd gone up to Xavier's office to piece Santo back together, and had found him in the corner, holding his knees. His form was less craggy than before, as he'd  
reformed from very fine sand.

Now they were back in their spots, Laura sitting on the bed, Julian in the computer chair, staring at each other, shell shocked. The Shrimps kicked Laura every few minutes.

_Knock knock._ Laura tilted her head. Snff. "It's the Cuckoos," she said.

"Come in," Julian called, opening the door with his mind. The three remaining Cuckoos stood in the doorway, their hands behind their backs.

"Dddo you still want our help?" they asked.

"_Will_ you help us?" Laura asked, understanding what they meant.

"We're sorry about your sisters," Julian added. "We understand if you're too hurt or angry at us or whatever."

The Cuckoos smile. "Aaall this 'we' talk. How cute. No, we don't mind. Close your eyes and try to think of something pleasant."

"Clouds," Mindee suggested.

"Candy," Phoebe offered.

Celeste continued to smile.

Laura closed her eyes. A tickle—and she suddenly knew everything about raising children. The Cuckoos weren't done. She was sure she knew as much as a pediatrician now.

Julian held up his hand. "Okay, that's good—thanks—I think I could pretty much give a conference on childcare. Should be enough to take care of the Shrimps."

"Yyyou're welcome," the Cuckoos smiled together. "Wwwe can't wait to see them. It will be the first mutant birth at the school since Angel's children."

The three-in-one—and Julian, and Laura—shared a collective shudder at the thought of Barnell's and Angel's six fly-bird babies. Apparently, they had  
been hatched from slimy egg sacks housed on a ceiling.

**…**

The next morning—in the wee hours—Laura awoke to a constant kicking sensation. She rubbed her belly, annoyed; then she raised herself on her elbows.

"Keller. Feel." She took his hand (even though he was still asleep) and pressed it against her belly button; his eye twitched, and finally opened, the other  
concealed by pillow. "Wha—" he was disorientated; but a moment later, his sensations focused on his hand.

"Oh, wow. Hiccoughs?"

Laura nodded. "It really _is_ just two weeks."


	48. 13: two weeks 1:2 barn raising

**A/N: **General note--the next few chapters are domestic and Shrimp-centered. For certain individuals *ahem*. FLOOF WARNING!!

**zackslacker: **The assassin idea is good, I might do an X-force story about it. Right now though I have like eight million stories on the go so I want to get a bit further with the ones I have going before  
I start new ones (this includes an unpublished story I'm saving for when I get back). And...how could you think I'd kill Julian? Shock and hurt! He's too hot to die.

* * *

**  
( Volume: 2 Arc: "two weeks" 13 Issue: 1/2 )**

 **Chapter 77: barn raising ******

* * *

Early Tuesday morning.

"So—Keller—I'm feeling kind of domestic, after all this violence, and hate, and X-men stuff," Laura said. "Mom will be here tomorrow  
morning. So…let's go shopping!"

"_What?" _ Julian dropped the shirt he'd been folding. "Are you kidding me?"

"No," Laura said. She was sitting on the bed, watching him fold their laundry (something he'd taken over doing for them over the last  
few months, feeling sorry for Laura, who had quite a handicap). "We don't even have anything for them to _sleep _in, Keller. We have to  
obtain some child raising equipment—and fast."

Julian picked up the shirt again. "Fuck. I totally forgot about that. Stupid interferences. We're not off to a great start on the parenting thing, are we?"

"Not really," Laura agreed. "Let's go tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure mom will be more than happy to buy. No, that's not the word—ecstatic, more like."

Julian grinned. "Okay, alright. I was thinking the Shrimps could sleep in like a shoebox or something under the bed, but—OOOF!"

Laura had thrown a pillow at his head. "I am _not_ subjecting my children to the horrendous dust bunnies you have collected under this thing," she  
lectured. "I would vacuum but I can't bend over right now."

"Oooh, bend over," Julian said, tossing the pillow aside. "I'd vacuum, too—except I don't _care._" He moved over to the bed and sat on the edge. "You  
know—when I was up there—I was fighting mostly for _you_." He grinned.

"That is such bullshit! You're just trying to get into my pants," Laura said. She wrinkled her nose. "Nice try, though."

"Pfft. Been there, done that." He avoided a whap aimed at the back of his head; then leaned closer. "Oh, hi," he said, wrapping his arms around her  
upper torso and lowering her carefully to the bed. "Kinda our last two weeks alone, when you think about it."

Laura smiled but said nothing; he kissed her softly. A passing thought about how scared he'd been that she'd get hurt occurred, and he pulled  
her closer, a bit more urgent.

"I would've been quite upset if he'dve gotten that shot off," he said, panting, a while later. "Really, really upset. I might've—you know—killed him—or  
something. Avenge the Shrimps and all that."

Laura smiled, running her hand over his chest idly. "Look at it this way—it would have been an effective C-section. I would've exploded like a piñata. A  
shower of babies. And confetti. We would have had to pay him."

Julian snorted. "You're so fucked up, beautiful," he said, rubbing her shoulder.

"More like knocked up," Laura said, wrinkling her nose.

**...**

Later in the morning, there was a knock on the door. Laura was sleeping, so Julian pulled on a t-shirt and answered it, rubbing his rumpled hair.

"…" he stared at the visitor. Wolverine. Wearing a tool belt.

"Get dressed, Keller. We're working on that house-thing of yours and we need your brain," Logan said gruffly. "Nice boxers."

Julian started. He was wearing the boxers Laura had given him as a gag gift for Christmas—covered in little Dachshunds and the words "Find the Weiner". He  
flushed slightly. "Your clone gave them to me," he said, nodding to Laura, now on her side. She was drooling on the pillow—her mouth was wide open—and  
she was snoring quite loudly.

"Quite a catch you got there," Logan commented. "Five minutes. Meet us out near Bohusk's."

**…**

"This is crazy," Julian said, staring at the pegged-out space on the lawn. There were about four enormous piles of lumber; a couple wrapped packages  
of shingles; buckets of nails and plaster; floor tiles; rolls of carpet; a few rolls of wall paper. "You're totally off your rocker insane. No disrespect, sir."

Logan grinned and handed him a can. Julian took a moment to examine it before he realized it was beer. "Oh. Uh, thanks." He opened it, surprised  
at the gesture.

"Yup." Logan said, staring at the lumber.

"Yup," Julian agreed. "Pro-pane and pro-pane accessories."

"Heh," Logan said, getting the King-of-the-Hill reference. "Waitin' for the Cuckoos, if you're curious. Plan is, they're basically gonna download a crash  
course on house construction straight into our brains. Then _you're _gonna put it together, while I stand around smokin' and drinkin'. Sound like a plan?"

"Sure?" Julian shrugged. "I assume you mean with my powers."

"No, with your butt," Logan said, rolling his eyes in a very Laura-esque way. Or was her way Logan-esque? Julian decided to drop the chain of thought.

"Couple other people are comin' to help," Logan said, leaning on a stack of lumber. "And another truckload, around twelve. Why don't you scribble a rough  
plan on this paper here." He patted a pad sitting on top of a pile, then dug in his pocket and produced a pencil.

Julian stared at the blank sheet. "I don't know—where do I start?"

"Well, it should be sorta squareish, right?" Logan said. "I assume you want a door. And probably a few rooms, unless you're one of those people who likes  
havin' the toilet in the kitchen. I'm not complainin', but I dunno how Laura would like it."

"I don't see it going over well, no," Julian said. He drew a big square on the sheet of paper, thought for a second, then erased it and drew a rectangle,  
adding two projecting wings, somewhat like the institute itself.

"Oho. You're styling it," Logan grinned.

Julian continued, adding lines to indicate rooms. A bathroom—a bedroom—a second room—a kitchen. A living room. He sketched a tiny office in the corner.

"Hmm. Not bad." Logan tapped the paper. "Might want to have two rooms for the Quarter-Pints…in case you're there for a while. Could get frustrating,  
having two opposite sex teenagers in the same room."

"I don't intend to stay here too long," Julian said, but he adjusted the drawing anyway, shifting some rooms to the side. It looked lopsided, so he added  
a room to the other 'wing', making it even again.

"Kay, we'll go with that," Logan said. He looked to the side; a few moments later, a few people came into view—the Cuckoos, Nori, David, Santo, Cessily,  
a boy named Match, Colossus, and Nightcrawler. All grinning.

"Hear ve are haffing a barn raising, ja?" Nightcrawler asked.

"Kinda. 'Cept it's a house for the minor leaguers," Logan said. He held up the pad. "Here's the plan. You want a basement, Keller?"

"Uhh—sure?" Julian blinked.

"Get to it, girls," Logan said.

The Cuckoos proceeded. Moments later, Julian looked at the diagram again, tore it off, then started to re-sketch it properly, using the first as a vague  
basis. "There," he said, presenting it to Logan, who he figured would be in charge of the project. Logan nodded.

"Okay. Let's get to it. Keller's going to be half our muscle, Ashida the other half. The Cuckoos are going to coordinate everything, along with David. Match,  
you're going to be our catalyst when it comes to the plaster. Pete, Kincaid, you do heavy lifting and support, 'coz I sincerely doubt we're going to be  
building this the usual way. And Kurt—you teleport shit and help with coordination—and go back to the mansion when I run out of beer. I'm you're go-to  
saw man. Got it?"

"How do you know so much about construction, sir?" David asked curiously.

"Did some for a couple summers. It's a long story. Had to leave when a crane fell on me and they saw me die." Logan waved his hand, like the story was boring.

"Just want you to get one thing _straight,_ Keller," Nori said, thumping her finger on his chest with a glare. "This has _nothing_ to do with you. We're doing this  
for Laura, and for the two innocent babies that are going to have to endure _you_ as a parent. Poor things should at least have a nice place to stay in."

"…" Nasty things rose in Julian's throat, but he swallowed them back. "I'm sure they'll appreciate it," he said.

Nori's eyes narrowed, then she walked away with David. Julian raised his eyebrows; Nori had been almost pleasant to him lately, then this.

"PMS," Logan whispered, tapping his nose.

**…**

By three o'clock—five hours after they'd started—a newly finished house was staring at them, all glue, plaster and paint dry, thanks to a careful process  
on Match's part (with the aid of the Cuckoos).

"Well," Julian said, rubbing his neck. "Uh, thanks, guys?"

"Pfft. _I_ did it for Laura. You're lucky _you_ benefit from it, Keller," Nori said, folding her arms and glaring at him again.

"Xavier is completely wrong. We should quit the whole X-men thing and do that house-building for the homeless stuff. We'd clear up the mutant problem in  
like one summer," Cessily said thoughtfully.

"Heh." Logan popped the tab on another beer. "Alright, Keller, go get your woman. I'm sure this is going to buy you months of time in her good books. Use  
it well and make sure you don't take _all_ the credit."

Julian realized Logan was half-serious, and it suddenly occurred to him that the older man felt guilty for not being around to help Laura through the difficult  
times they'd recently encountered. He nodded.

**…**

"…" Laura was now staring at the house too, confused. The others had gone inside, but had demanded reports on her reaction.

"What the hell? Do we have a mutant that, like, grows buildings or something now?" she asked.

"No, dumbass," Julian said. "We built it. My head hurts—let's go inside and you can check it out."

"You built it?" Laura continued to stand in place.

"Uh-huh. Just for you," Julian gave her a winning smile, then remembered his promise. "I had a little bit of help. Okay…a lot of bit. Logan helped tons. Still."

"I was expecting something smaller," Laura said, folding her arms and leaning back on her heels. She swayed for a second, almost tipping over from the  
imbalance. "Like a cradle. Keller…you guys built a _house?_"

"Yup," he said. "Come on, it's cooler inside."

Laura followed him in, touching the doorframe hesitantly, as if expecting it to break apart. "Oh, wow," she said, looking inside. It wasn't enormous,  
granted—but it was very finished, and very new, with nice surfaces to everything. On an afterthought, they'd added planking to the ceiling and a  
ladder, making an additional storage space under the roof.

"…" Laura went to the counter and touched it uncertainly.

Julian realized her eyes were wet and wanted to run away, scared. He'd only seen Laura cry twice—or three times—in the time he'd known her—and  
they'd been during quite extreme moments—not in happy ones. "Uh—" he said awkwardly. He _hated_ happy crying, with a vengeance. Nothing made  
him feel more out of place.

"Oh, relax, dumbass," Laura said, wiping away the one tear that had escaped her. "This just means I'm going to forgive you for the next ginormous  
fuck-up you will inevitably commit. I'm expecting it at any second now."

Julian made a face. "The appliances are coming tomorrow. Furniture too, apparently. We can move in once the fridge is here."

"Is the water hooked up yet?" Laura turned on the kitchen tap and jumped as her answer spurted out.

Julian snorted. She stuck her tongue-stud out at him. His eyes widened.

He looked at the counter.

"Forget it," Laura said, but she eyed it too.

**…**

Wednesday morning. "**_MMMM_**!" Laura whimpered in pain, curling as her calves began cramping again.

"For god's sake, I'm exhausted…could you keep it down? Yeah, thanks," Julian mumbled into the pillow. Laura kicked him rather viciously with her heel.

"It really hurrrts," she whined.

Julian sighed, reaching down under the covers and running his hand over her twitching leg. "Press the balls of your feet against the end of the bed and  
hold it. That's what I did when I used to get them." He pushed her down the bed a bit helpfully.

"Why'd you get leg cramps?" Laura asked, her eyebrows together as she balanced her feet.

"I had to run laps." Julian paused. Here it came.

"Why?" Laura persisted.

"Same reason I threw Javelin. Because…" he looked away. He was a terrible liar when it came to Laura, but he _knew _he was never going to hear the  
end of this. "Fine. I was in the military…for one year. A military boarding school."

Laura sat bolt upright. "HAHAHAHAHA!!! OH MY GOD!" She wheezed as she got a stitch in her side, and then the Shrimps started kicking.

"Are…you really…serious?" she panted.

"Mhmm." Julian eyed her warily.

"Boot camp?" Laura grinned.

"Kinda. After I blew my parent's house up and some...other stuff." Julian paused. "I was into some bad shit…they thought it'd straighten me out—well,  
dad especially. Didn't really work…I mean, especially once they found out I was a mutant…roommate saw me lifting stuff in my sleep."

Laura continued to grin. "Did you get dog tags?"

"…yes," Julian watched her suspiciously.

"Can I have them?" she asked.

"Why the hell would you want them?" he asked, rubbing his face. "You're going to broadcast this to the school, aren't you? I'll hear 'Private Jules' for  
_years_, possibly the rest of my life, won't I?"

"HAHAHA!" Laura threw back her head. "Clearly I'm rubbing off on you! That was even better than what _I_ was thinking! Are you my clone?"

Julian sighed.

"No…I was thinking of wearing them," Laura continued her earlier train of thought. "Under my shirt, sort of. But if you're too insecure…"

"Fine, yes, you can have them," Julian rolled his eyes. He made a motion with his finger; the closet door opened, several things shifted, then a chain  
with a set of metal tabs on them floated out. He caught them and passed them over to her.

Laura took the chain from him and held it up for inspection. They had black rubber rims around the edges, and the words had been punched into them.

"Julian Keller, Private," she read aloud. "O negative, Catholic. Huh." Laura closed her hand around the tag thoughtfully. "I had dog tags, too. I think I  
lost them. Or mom has them. They're adamantium."

"Hah. We should just fuck the whole ring-thing and trade them," Julian said.

Laura rolled her eyes. "You're just looking for a way to get out of buying me a diamond someday, you cheap bastard."

"Yeah, I am," he admitted seriously. Then he laughed.

**…**

"Ohh man. There is no way I am leaving this bed. Sorry. You can greet mom and go shopping with her for me. Have fun." Laura rolled over.

"Like hell. Get up, lazy," Julian pulled the covers off her. She shrieked and curled into a ball, wrapping her arms around herself. "KELLER! You sick fuck!  
I'm already struggling to keep your two children heated and fed and you're undoing me from the other end! AHHHH!" Julian had begun to tickle her feet,  
and Laura desperately squirmed away, laughing and moaning feebly at the same time.

"Get up. We've got to move this shit—well, I have to anyways—and I can't do that with you in the bed. And no, I will _not _go alone. You're coming, like it or not."

Laura sighed, then swung her feet over the edge of the bed. "I don't think I can stand up. I've reached the point where I can no longer physically  
balance myself on my own two feet. How pathetic is that?"

"It'd be pathetic if there was no one else in there," Julian said, holding out his hand. "C'mon, Preggos. Got to make you decent."

Laura leaned on him heavily as she shuffled to the bathroom. "They're hiccoughing again," she grumbled. "I feel like ass! And I bet it looks like I  
have an extra one right now, I'm so fat. I'm fat itself."

"Pfft." Julian helped her sit down on the toilet seat. "What do you want to wear?"

"Something tiny," Laura said.

"You just said you feel like fat," he pointed out.

She grinned. "Why not share the love? If I've got to be miserable about it, then everyone else should be, too." She waited; he reappeared,  
a few minutes later, with a sweater and a pair of yoga pants.

"KELLER! That is not revealing."

"I've decided you've finally succumbed to insanity from the stress of the Shrimps and the trauma of the last few months. I'm going  
to make all your decisions for you," Julian grinned.

"I won't wear it," she pouted, folding her arms. He ignored her, helping her undress, then pushing her into the cubicle shower, over exaggerating  
the amount of exertion he needed to squeeze in behind her. "You're such an asshole!" Laura said, rolling her eyes. "I'm big, but there's still half  
a foot between us when we cram ourselves in here."

"More like half an _inch,_" Julian said. "Close relations between family members!"

"HAHAHA!" Laura found this amusing; he turned the water on her while her mouth was open. She closed her eyes and spat it out. "God, you're  
so annoying," she said flatly. He grinned. "I could say the exact same thing about _you_, so don't start. Come on, we have a lot of shit to do today—hurry!"

**…**

"Careful," Laura said, watching, frightened, from the window as Julian floated in midair, directing a train of their belongings in boxes towards the  
house (with much more skill than the time he'd moved her things into his room). He made an 'oh!' face and pretended to almost drop a box full  
of her underwear; she shrieked. "Don't you DARE!" She popped her claws and held them up in threat.

Julian laughed. "So is there anything else in there?" They'd been moving things in this manner for the past hour, Laura stuffing belongings into  
boxes, Julian floating them ski-lift style down to the lawn in front of the house.

"Nope. Just the bed. You sure you're allowed to take it?"

He nodded. "I was rich enough to have my own bed," he said solemnly. "No dirty second-hand germs for _me._ God, I can't believe how far  
down you've brought me in life, you bitch!"

Laura rolled her eyes and stepped aside. "Okay—now _try_ to do this less violently than that time you did it by accident. Got it? Man, that was  
so scary—I saw my life flash before my eyes—"

" You have a healing factor," Julian said sarcastically. "There's no way you could've died. Besides, I woke up in time."

" Being in bed with a telekinetic should be like a theme park ride at Six Flags or something," Laura added.

" Oh, shut the hell up." He made a come-here motion with his finger; the bed floated higher, over the windowsill, and was now in the air beside him.

" I'm impressed that the window is big enough to fit it," Laura said.

"I used to toss it out all the time when I was about sixteen and I couldn't control my shit," Julian said. "They finally got sick and tired of rebuilding  
the structure, so they made the window bigger. The next twenty or so times it happened, they only had to replace the glass. It was pretty smart."

" Oh my _god,_" Laura leaned on the windowsill. "Did you ever do that when you were having a wet dream? That'd be pretty embarrassing!"

Julian grinned. "As a matter of fact, yes, I did. It was the best rush I've ever had in my life—fucking good dream, and then I woke up falling  
through midair. Good thing it was pitch black out and the bed didn't come with me. Woke up before I hit the ground."

" HAHAHA! Who was it about?" Laura asked.

" Uhh, a girl I knew at the time."

"Sofia, huh?" Laura raised her eyebrow and stuck out her tongue stud.

Julian dropped the bed for a second, then caught it. "Jesus Christ, not now, please. I really can't afford to replace these things, and the bed's  
incredibly precious to me! Didn't we agree that you were going to take that thing out?"

" Pfft. You wish. Hurry up, I'm getting tired standing and the male Shrimp is playing with my ovary again. I think he just stuck a finger in there."

**…**

" LAURA!" Laura's mother was running towards her again, all smiles. They were now at the airport, Laura leaning heavily on Julian's  
shoulder (he'd offered to find her a wheelchair but she'd told him to go do something quite rude to himself). They'd finished moving in; boxes  
were all over the living room, but the bed was upstairs, and Logan had come and helped them connect the appliances (along with Nori, who  
had been surprisingly eager to help with her super speed).

They were quite exhausted.

Sarah engulfed her daughter in a hug. "I'm so glad you called me. I was worried you might not…I want to be there for this!" she said.

"Of course I called," Laura said, frowning. "I'm not a complete asshole, mom. Thanks. Thanks a lot."

"Megan wanted to come, too," Sarah said. "And Debbie."

Laura surprised Julian. "Megan would be too noisy. Give it a month or two…I don't want to scare the Shrimps, or traumatize them when  
they're just out. Give them a few minutes to adjust to breathing, jeez." She shifted. "I have to sit down. I think they're going to just  
fall out of my butt and pull all the other organs with them if I don't find a chair of some sort soon."

"Car," Julian said.

"Mom, we need offspring things," Laura said. "We're both completely broke. We don't even have a crib yet."

" If not, we did find some particularly nice shoeboxes in my closet," Julian added. "There was some tissue paper in them still. Not half  
bad, if you ask me…poke a few air holes in the lids…close them if they get too annoying…"

"I think Laura's influencing you," Sarah said, smiling slightly as she pulled her suitcase along. " Don't be silly. Of course we'll get them  
some proper equipment. Did Logan not offer to help you?"

" He built us a house already," Julian said. "I kinda didn't want to bug him for more. It'd be a bit rude."

" Oh," Sarah raised her eyebrows. "Well, that's very nice of him."

" Wait until you see it!" Laura said, excited. "Oh my god, I have my own house. I don't have to wait till anyone's _gone_ to have  
parties—no one to tell me when it's messy—my own booze cabinet—it's like the best place _ever_ to hide crack—I've already  
plotted a grow-op for the back yard. It'll be beautiful—wake up every morning to see the little—"

They had reached the car in the parking lot. "Just shut up, Laura," Julian said, rolling his eyes. "You know very well that you're not  
gonna want any of that crap around the Shrimps."

Laura folded her arms and looked away. "Killjoy Keller. Reminds me of the responsibilities _he_ caused."


	49. 13: two weeks 2:2 preparations

**

* * *

  
( Volume: 2 Arc: "two weeks" 13 Issue: 2/ 2 )**

 **Chapter 78: Preparations ******

* * *

Around four o' clock found Sarah, Laura, and Julian whisking in and out of stores, the latter serving mostly as the pack  
mule. They eventually had covered just about everything, from cribs to toys to clothes to changing stations and beyond  
(including some household items for cooking), Sarah offering input but not wisdom (having spent Laura's baby years in a  
lab). She was surprised that Laura seemed to know what she was doing, until it was explained to her that telepaths had  
'uploaded' information into their brains.

Finally, the trip was done, and they retired for dinner, thoroughly exhausted (especially Laura, who fell asleep several  
times against his shoulder and began to snore, once with a roll in her mouth, and another where she crashed headfirst  
into her salad and had croutons and grated cheese stuck to her hair and eyelashes—Julian later found a piece of lettuce  
behind her ear) but pleased—in just a little over two days, they had managed to accomplish almost _everything _on their  
long to-do lists.

"Here's to cheating, with super powers," Laura said during a waking moment, holding her glass up for a cheers. Sarah  
clinked glasses too, despite her not having any powers to speak of.

**…**

"Keller—I have to sleep," Laura said, sitting on the bed (now in the house) and watching the clothing hangers fly to  
the closet, loaded with suits and dresses and other articles of clothing.

" Go ahead. It's not like you're helping anyway," Julian said.

"I said that because I need your help lying down," Laura mumbled. " My back is fused together, and I'm cramping again."

" For the love of God." Julian rolled his eyes but moved over to her and ran his hands down her body, slowly straightening  
the bends out. He dragged her up the mattress and pulled the covers over her. "Invalid," he said.

Laura yawned, looked like she was about to respond—then let out a snore.

**…**

By the morning (after staying up all night), Julian had their belongings all organized away. It was not too difficult, seeing  
as they didn't have all that much; only one room full of goods, between the two of them. He hung a clock on the wall,  
noted the time, then realized they didn't have any food in the fridge—and that Laura would soon be up, and would begin  
suffering acid reflux if she didn't get something to eat within half an hour of waking (something that had begun to cause  
problems during this last month of her term).

Groaning in exhaustion, he stomped off to the mansion, remembering only when he was halfway that he was a mutant  
that could surpass the speed of sound. He was quite annoyed, and the rest of the journey went much faster.

**…**

" Keller!" Laura said, awaking just as his eyes slid shut and he prepared to drift off to a blissful sleep.

" Grr." He rolled over and looked at her. "Laura—I need to sleep now, please. I'm really, _really_ tired."

"I need food. And the washroom," Laura said. "Then you can, promise. Otherwise I'll vomit and pee all over the bed—and  
possibly give birth. You want that? I'm fine with it, if you are."

Julian mouthed something, then got up and ruffled his hair. "Fine, fine, I'm up." He yawned as he shuffled towards the wall,  
out of habit. Laura watched him silently. " Grr." He turned around and headed for the door.

After taking care of Laura's demands, he hauled her back into bed and fell asleep before he could straighten himself out. She  
adjusted his head for him, frowning at the awkward angle; she'd seen Julian cause himself migraines by almost bending his  
head backwards in his sleep. Three hours passed and then she had to pee again; this time she struggled to get herself out  
of bed, and very carefully made her way to the bathroom, gripping furniture on the sides of the room all the while. The  
Shrimps were hiccoughing again.

Then she felt something odd—a tensing in her abdomen. She panicked and shouted very loudly, something about the Shrimps  
breaking free. Julian fell out of bed and hit the floor with a loud _thump!_

**…**

"It was just a practice contraction," Dr. McCoy said soothingly. "A _Braxton-Hicks_ contraction, as they are also known as. Nothing  
to be frightened of, Laura. They're not coming out yet."

"I felt it crowning, I swear!" Laura.

" She made me check her wahoozle, for heads," Julian grumbled. "As if she wouldn't be able to tell _herself. _She's such a retard,  
sometimes. I don't know how the hell she pulled those grades off in school—she even made me fall out of bed over this. _After_  
the Cuckoos did a brain-dump of childcare info in her head!"

" It's always more terrifying when it's yourself experiencing it, Mister Keller," Dr. McCoy said. " In any case, I remain by my earlier  
prognosis: a week and a half to go now. You should only take alarm if these contractions occur more than once every four hours,  
or develop a pattern." He patted her hand with his paw comfortingly. "Laura, you should rest. You're going to have a very busy,  
exhausting couple of months ahead of yourself."

Laura nodded, still pale, and Julian helped her off the table.

**…**

" I—I should tell you now…I think I have a phobia about giving birth," Laura said, her voice shaky.

"Well, not like you can hold them in," Julian said sarcastically. "The information could have helped earlier, yeah, but I think we've  
gone a bit beyond that point."

Laura whimpered.

" Maybe your cousin _should_ have come," he added thoughtfully. "She could have done that thing where she tries to startle you  
into labor. Then you wouldn't have a choice—they'd just come out, poof."

" Not _poof!" _Laura snapped. "They're the size of watermelons! It's going to hurt, a lot! Of course I'm scared!"

"_You_ wanted them," Julian said unsympathetically. "I was all for a little pro-choice support, but nooo—OW!" Laura had wacked  
him on the back of the head with a sour look. "You asshole," she hissed.

"It's called a _joke,_" Julian grumbled. "If I wanted them dead, I would've been cheering Magneto on when he tried to take a  
shot. Would've said 'make sure you get them all, there's two of them!'. Hell, maybe _I_ would have joined him."

"What's worse than ten dead babies in a trash can?" Laura asked. She had just pressed the elevator button.

_Whirr—ding! _The doors opened to reveal Pixie, her wings fluttering gently.

"One dead baby in ten trash cans?" Julian offered.

Pixie backed away, her eyes wide.

Laura looked down at her stomach, making a face as the kicking started again.

"It's the boy. He's kicking the girl," she said flatly.

"Good. Get a little sibling rivalry going there, it's only healthy," Julian said, leaning in exhaustion against the elevator railing.

Laura grabbed her shirt collar and looked down. "Don't make me come in there!" she shouted at her stomach.

Pixie's eyebrows drew together and she backed further into her corner.

**…**

"EEEEE!" Laura squealed, slamming down her bowl on the counter as she experienced another tensing. "Keller! I think they're  
chewing their way out!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Julian said from the couch. They'd bickered for a while over food, Laura arguing that she should move at  
least a little, having been bed-ridden (mostly) for the past four days, her only motion the practice contractions, and the  
almost-constant hiccoughing of the Shrimps.

"It hurts," Laura said, leaning on the counter.

"I wouldn't worry. There's no pattern to them…you've been having them like once every six hours, Laura, if even."

She nodded. He looked at her and saw that her face was pale. "Oh, fine. Sit down, _I'll _get it."

"No, no," Laura said stubbornly. "I want to take care of this. I'll get bed sores otherwise."

"Laura…you have a _healing_ factor. That's impossible. Just sit your ass the fuck down, right now."

She ignored him and opened the fridge. "You need to fill this thing. You're my only link to the outside world now…and  
you've been slacking."

"I built the house, Laura, and installed that fridge. Give me a break."

"Yeah, well," she grumbled.

Julian rubbed his face. "I think I have to get a job, or something. I feel weird stealing food from the kitchen, especially  
after I got yelled at by the Cook for snatching those burgers last night."

"HAHAHA! Oh my god! You should wear a striped shirt and tell her you're the Hamburglar!" Laura cackled.

Julian shook his head. "You're the weirdest person I've ever known. Ever."

"So where would you work?" Laura asked, peeling an onion. "Who's going to hire a rich mutant frat boy with no job  
experience and an attitude problem?"

Julian made a face. "Yeah, thanks. You're not that great either."

"Pfft." Laura popped her claw.

"Ewww! Laura! That thing was just in your _arm!_ Don't cut _food_ with it!" Julian dry-gagged. "Jesus, and _you're_ the  
pregnant one here!"

Laura rolled her eyes. "Logan does it all the time."

"Logan also smokes like a chimney, drinks two packs of beer a day and has hair on his ass!"

"You have this on personal authority?" Laura raised her eyebrow.

"He was in the locker room, once," Julian said. "I had nightmares. It took me a bit to get over the idea that you are his clone."

"Actually, you were like desperate to bang me, if I remember. You even came to my room for it." Laura wrinkled her nose.

"I was bringing your glove back. _And_ I'd heard about the whole clone-thing, like, two days before that. I had plenty of  
time to make my peace with it. Figured with the skintight shit you wore, there's no room for that kind of hair."

"Eww, Keller, gross!" Laura paused. "You were _planning_ to do that? Make moves on me?"

Julian flushed slightly. "Uh, yeah. It kinda turned out a bit different than I had planned though…when I pictured it, I wasn't  
really planning to attack you like that. You touched a nerve." He grinned. "Didn't I headbutt you?"

"You did," Laura said thoughtfully. "Good times. Can't wait till _these_ things are out so we can go back to them." She  
poised her claw over the onion.

"LAURA—"

_Shlunk. _

"Keller…A—my body is completely germ-free and more sterile than the cooking pan. B—heat kills all germs anyways."

"…" Julian shuddered. "It's still creepy."

"Mmm, creepy." Laura began to dice the onion, then retracted her claws. "Look at it this way…at least it wasn't  
my foot claw, right?"

"Right," Julian sighed.

**…**

"I can't figure this out!"

Julian was sitting with an assortment of crib parts, screws, washers, tools, and a crumpled instruction manual. He  
looked ready to cry in frustration.

"My God. And you say you built this _place?_" Laura touched the wall, looking like she expected it to fall down. "I'll  
sleep easy, let me tell you, knowing the roof could cave in at any moment."

"Shut up." Julian threw the diagram at her. "Make sense of _that_, then, Miss smarty pants, if you're so sure it's simple!"

Laura smoothed out the directions. "Insert screw A into slot B, and screw in. Then add wood glue. Oooh, I think this  
is the instructions on how to make the _baby._"

Julian snorted. "Skip it, then. We've got it covered."

"Pretty much." Laura tapped her finger on the paper. "Hand me one of the long pieces…god, makes the Preggo build  
the crib…what kind of an asshole did I invest my future in?!"

"Grr." Julian levitated the pieces. "Just point. I'll put it together."

**…**

Monday—of the second week. The last few days had been filled with the same routine, the contractions becoming a  
bit more regular—once every four hours—but still without pattern. Laura got more and more nervous, and Julian  
struggled to find ways to distract her (because she was driving him up the wall).

By Tuesday, the tension in the room could be cut by a knife. Laura complained nonstop, and Julian had already yelled  
at her twice; she woke him up about three times a night with screeches of pain or demands. That evening was terrible,  
due to the fact that she needed to use the washroom about five times an hour. Julian eventually turned the lamp on  
and read a book while waiting for her to 'fill up again', as he stated grimly.

Wednesday found him in Dr. McCoy's office, pleading with his ex-Professor to initiate labor artificially.

"Do you really believe you're going to sleep any better when they are out, Mister Keller?" Dr. McCoy asked mildly.

Julian thought for a second. "I changed my mind. Sew her wahoozle shut, please. And her mouth, while you're at it."

Dr. McCoy smiled, but he ignored this semi-serious request.

**…**

Thursday.

"I'VE HAD IT!" Laura screamed, hurling her book at the wall. Julian backed away from her, alarmed; her claws had  
come out. "I'm fucking pushing these Shrimp-brats out _**NOW!**_" She screwed up her face.

"Laura…you can't just _decide_ when it's going to happen." Julian rolled his eyes.

"Yes I can!" Laura said, her face red.

"Are you pushing? Laura, you idiot, it says not to push until you actually _have_ contractions. You'll get a hernia."

"Healing…factor." She grunted.

"Stop it," Julian said firmly, waving his finger at her lamely. This was an altogether new problem that had never  
occurred to him. How was he going to prevent her from using her own muscles?

"Look, just relax. It's only a day or two, now. We've both been through worse together—"

"No we haven't!" Laura snapped. "Until we get attacked by aliens and they lay their eggs inside you, _you_ have  
nothing to say to me!"

"…wow," Julian shuddered.

"Ngggg. Yay! It moved!" Laura panted. "Wait—no, it was just kicking again." She folded her arms and looked away.

"We could try going for a walk," he offered. "Or, you know…the other thing." Despite this being the last week  
of alone-time, neither he nor Laura had really felt affectionate towards each other; he'd come to see her as  
a bloated mass of complaints and pain.

"That doesn't work," Laura snapped. "I'm not in the mood! You're just being selfish and thinking about what _you_  
want. Asshole!" She continued to watch him, and he realized she was actually considering it, despite her harsh words.

She stuck out her tongue stud at him and made a taunting noise.

**…**

"Anything?" Julian was more exhausted than before, and now his head hurt, as Laura had suggest he try the  
acupuncture thing—for the last hour. _She_ looked much more relaxed, with an almost dreamy smile on her face,  
levitating about an inch off the bed.

"Mmm. No." She rolled onto her side and opened one eye at him. "I'd stop complaining if you did this _all_ the  
time, you know. Feels great. Jeez, there _is_ something you're good for after all."

"Pfft. It takes a lot of energy." Julian rotated his wrist, the other hand behind his head, and she was moved  
to her front, waves travelling down her back. "So…where does it hurt? Here?" He put more pressure on a spot  
on her lower back that he'd seen her rubbing, and she curled her toes. "Mhmm."

"God, I think when this is all over I'm going to steal Dr. McCoy's morphine supply. My head has been killing me  
for two days now. Way too much power usage—and I'm hardly over that _thing _with Magneto."

Laura frowned, remembering. "Julian…I think you had a big bird moment."

"_What?_" he sat up. "You're kidding, right?"

She shook her head. "Didn't notice? Your powers...they were black. And then white. I thought I saw a shape. Could  
have been a duck though…I wouldn't put it past you to get possessed by a cheap Chinese knockoff God."

"Oh, shut the fuck up," Julian rubbed his face. "Look, I _am not_ having any…Phoenix…stuff…okay? I don't hear  
voices, at all, other the one in my head that sometimes tells me to kill you."

Laura looked at him sharply.

"When you're annoying me," Julian added, his nose wrinkling. "God, take it easy, please. I'm hardly walking  
around with my head on fire."

"I guess." Laura folded her arms and laid her head down on them. "It's hard to stay aloof when you're  
doing _that_, anyway. Speaking of birds, I feel like a rotisserie chicken right now. Complete with stuffing."

Julian leaned back again and raised his eyebrow, focusing on a different part of her body, and she stopped talking.

**…**

"Anything?" Dr. McCoy asked. He'd made a trek down to the little house in the backyard of the school to check on Laura.

"No." Julian rubbed his face. "This is freaking terrible. I'm spending what I thought was going to be a nice, relaxed last  
few months in a private hell, catering to an unstable, insane person with two fragile creatures inside her! She tried to  
push them out twice in the last week and gave herself a backache. Normally I wouldn't care all that much but she  
talked about it so much that _I_ got a backache."

Dr. McCoy sighed. "Perhaps her mother would be willing to attend to her for an evening? You look like you need sleep."

"Mmm. Maybe." Julian had bags under his eyes. "By the way, you got any painkillers? I can barely think with this  
migraine. I threw up this morning and that got Laura going too…all over the bed, 'coz she heard it."

Dr. McCoy wrinkled his nose. "I might have something in my bag, yes. I will speak with Dr. Kinney when I return  
and send her over. She has been staying away to give you privacy…Logan is quite agitated at her presence, though."

"Pfft. Send _him_ over," Julian grumbled.

**…**

"Hey, half-pint," Logan said, sitting down in the chair across the room.

Laura glared at him from the bed. "Why is _he_ here?" she hissed. "I can smell the cigarettes in your  
pocket! _**TAKE THEM AWAY****!**_" She hurled the magazine she'd been reading at her DNA original; Julian  
winced. She'd also begun having quite vibrant mood swings this last week.

"Alright, jeez," Logan fished in his pocket and handed the package to Julian, who hurried out of the room with them.

"I came to watch. You said there's gonna be some quarter-pints or something. I'd rather go to hell than miss watching  
a clone of myself give birth." He grinned.

"We could sell tickets," Laura said thoughtfully. "I'll do imitations. I can pause every few minutes to take a drink of  
beer, scratch my ass, etc."

"That's gross, Laura," Julian said, having returned from taking the cigarettes outside (he'd put them by the  
door). "Really, really gross."

"And this isn't?" Laura gestured at her stomach.

Logan leaned his cheek on his elbow. "Kinda. Are they going to be all covered in mucus, like the claws?"

"Uh huh. It's called Amniotic fluid. I've got tons of it, you want some?"

"Sure." Logan grinned. "I'll give it to Cyke in a Ziploc bag for his birthday."

"…" Julian was disturbed.

"Think they'll _have_ claws too?" Laura speculated.

"We'll see," Logan grunted. "Healing factor would be handy, considering the amount of trouble you two  
get into. The whole lot o' X-men can't keep up with you. I don't know _how_ you have the time."

"Magneto found _us,_" Julian said stiffly.

"A technicality," Logan said. "You got beer?"

"No, I'm a little too preoccupied _**WITH BEING PREGNANT AND UNDER-AGED**_ to visit the liquor store!" Laura snapped.

Logan glanced at Julian sympathetically.

"She's been like that forever," the latter whispered.

"I heard that!" Laura added.

**…**

"Watched pot never boils, huh?" Logan asked a few hours later. Julian had slept on the couch, finally allowed to  
relax as Logan and Sarah (who had been in the kitchen) tended to her demands. He'd fallen asleep after Logan  
had a temporary lapse of patience and roared back so loudly at Laura that she'd stayed silent for quite a  
while afterwards. It had been blissful.

Then she'd started up again, and Julian had woken up. He shuffled to the bedroom and saw Laura sitting with  
her arms folded, glaring at her 'parents' (if they could be called that).

"He's an _asshole,_" she said, pointing at Logan. She seemed to have lost her respectful attitude towards him  
altogether. "I want him gone."

"And she wonders why I don't spend all that much time with her," Logan said casually. "God, she's worse  
than Jean with PMS."

Sarah rubbed her forehead. "Laura—I know how uncomfortable you are—but Logan is just trying to help. Please—"

"Logan's staying," Julian said firmly. "If you don't like it, Laura, you can _leave._ I won't help you do it,  
either. Quit being so nasty or no one will help."

"…" Laura glared at him. "Come here so I can kill you!" she shouted, her claws sliding out.

"Yeah, I'll pass," Julian said, holding up a hand. "Thanks, though."

"Grr." Laura flopped back on the pillows and closed her eyes. "I hate myself and I want to die. _Why_ aren't they  
coming out? They're _done!_ They've _finished_ cooking! There's no good reason for them to _stay_ in there!"

"It won't happen if you keep thinking about it, sugarplum," Logan said, leaning his cheek on his hand, the elbow  
of which was on the chair's armrest. "Just relax. Think of it like when you get bullets under your skin. The more  
you tense your muscles, the more it hurts, right?"

"Right," Laura said.

Julian closed his eyes and turned away, towards the kitchen. He was amazed that he was still _hungry_ after  
hearing Logan and Laura speak to each other. They were, perhaps, the grossest people he'd ever met.

**…**

"Ouch!" Laura said, around eleven. Julian started; he'd fallen asleep in the chair (Logan having gone outside for  
a smoke break, and Sarah—ironically—for fresh air). He looked up at the girl and saw that her face was pale  
and contorted in pain.

"Think that was a real one?" Julian asked, rubbing his hair absently. It was sticking up all over the place, and he  
didn't doubt he really _did_ look like a pineapple at the moment.

"I don't know. It hurt, quite a bit," Laura said, seeming to relax. "Could have been a bite, though."

"They don't have teeth yet, Laura," he said patiently.

"They so do. I think the male Shrimp chewed on my liver an hour ago."

"Mmhmm."

"Come here," Laura said, patting the bed. He hesitated, then complied, stretching out beside her. She laid her  
head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I'm so nasty right now," she said, her voice small. "After all you've done."

Julian's annoyance softened. "It's okay. I'm sure it doesn't feel great to be you, right now." He kissed her hair. "This  
tolerance will cease the second they're out, though. No buts. You bitch at me then—I'll discipline you."

"You better be joking," she said, but she smiled.

Then she winced again. A second later her entire body seemed to seize. Julian laid his hand on her stomach; it was rock-hard.

"Okay, that's definitely a real one," Julian said.


	50. 14: The Shrimps 1:2 arrival

**A/N: **Tah dahhhh....after all the emphasis they put on Wolverine being like a wolf...makes you wonder what the **female** version of him is like.

* * *

**( Volume: 2 Arc: "The Shrimps" 14 Issue: 1/2 )**

 **Chapter 79: arrival ******

* * *

"Holy, already? I thought the real labor was supposed to last sixteen hours, or something," Julian said.

Dr. McCoy had just told everyone else (except for Logan and Sarah) to leave the room. It had only been three hours since the  
first 'real' contraction.

"Everything about this is going much faster than normal, it seems," Dr. McCoy said. "I believe, since Laura's physiology is much  
like that of an animal, her labor will also be similar—even faster, because of the acceleration factor of her mutation."

"NNNNYARRRGH!" Laura yelled as another contraction overtook her. She rolled over and curled up into a ball.

"No, no, stay on your back, Laura," Dr. McCoy said, running towards her.

"Damn," Logan said. "She looks like she's havin' puppies."

"I always said she was a bitch," Julian said. Then he realized Sarah was also in the room, and he flushed.

"Sorry," he said guiltily.

Sarah looked at her daughter, twitching her limbs, her eyes glassy and staring at the wall across from her, and did not comment.

Julian felt even worse and covered his face with his hand.

"Indeed…this is almost following patterns of a canine birth," Dr. McCoy said, to alleviate the sudden tension. "I had a beautiful  
German Wirehaired Pointer bitch, once, that I bred to another purebred dog, and thus had a chance to observe this phenomena.  
A period of extreme restlessness—about twelve hours—she was _very_ agitated—a few real contractions, followed by about ten  
minutes of hard straining for each puppy."

Laura panted, unresponsive. Julian approached her and laid his hand on her forehead. "She feels cold," he said. Her skin was  
clammy; she squeezed her eyes shut and bared her teeth as she strained again.

"I expect the first infant to appear soon," Dr. McCoy said.

Julian took her hand carefully and threaded his fingers through hers.

"Oho, that's gonna hurt ya," Logan said, amused. "She's going to squeeze so hard she breaks your hand."

"I don't care," Julian said, frowning. "I want to do _something_, I don't know what, though. Is there anything else I _can_ do?"

"I think that's the right thing," Sarah said. "I would have liked someone to hold _my_ hand when she was born. There were only  
physicians wearing rubber gloves."

"Oho," Logan said again, folding his arms. "Serves you right."

"Mmm," Sarah said, smiling at him. She was obviously full of sharp comments.

"Uhhh," Laura whimpered and kicked, straining again. Her hand clenched down on his, but it didn't hurt too badly; he leaned against  
the wall, resigned to watching. She relaxed for a second, then her body arched off the bed and she strained harder.

"I think this is it," Dr. McCoy said. "We should pull her—"

"_**EEEEEEE!**_" Laura was making very loud noises now.

"_**OUCH!**_" She had popped all her claws, and one went right through the center of Julian's palm. He bit his lip and tried very hard not to  
join in her terrible noises of pain; Logan snorted in laughter.

"I told ya, half-pint. Should've put money on it. Those were Vegas odds, right there."

Julian winced, holding Laura's wrist tightly with his other hand and pulling his other off the six-inch spear. Blood was gushing out of the  
injury onto the floor, and Laura paused straining to inhale. _Snff._

Then she went back to what she had been doing earlier.

"Please—restrain her, Hellion—I need to get her to place her feet into the stirrups," Dr. McCoy said. Laura was now waving her claws  
around, causing everyone to step back slightly. Julian tried to concentrate on her feet, freezing them in place; Laura hissed and fought  
to free herself even as she strained.

"Oh my—" Dr. McCoy adjusted his glasses. "Fascinating! It's covered in a membrane sac. Like a puppy. Did you want to—"

"No," Julian said firmly, looking at Laura's face. "I _don't_ want to see any of it until all the fluids and stretching and blood is _gone._"

"Pussy," Logan said, about Julian. Then he snorted at the unintended innuendo.

"He's worse than Laura," Sarah commented dryly.

"Often imitated, never duplicated," Logan grinned, folding his arms again.

Laura was straining again, and Dr. McCoy was leaning forwards to catch. There was a wet noise. "Oh, god!" Julian said, plugging one  
ear. "Laura…scream or something! That's GROSS!"

She was too occupied by pushing it out. Dr. McCoy caught it, held it up—Julian looked despite himself and vomited a little in his  
mouth—a big squirming thing, covered in a slimy white sac.

"Urrr," Logan said, wincing. "Damn, how can you _touch_ that thing, Hank?"

"It's alive," Dr. McCoy said simply. Laura sat up suddenly, snarling, and lunged at the doctor with surprising agility, her claws out. She  
snatched the thing from him and curled around it on the table. She approached it with her mouth.

"Holy fuck—" Julian covered his eyes with his fingers. "I am _never _kissing her again! _EVER!_"

_Shrrip, shrrip. Shrrrrrip. _

A gurgle. Julian looked through his fingers now and saw a small face peering out of the disgusting package with very big blue eyes, and  
his curiosity overwhelmed his disgust. He leaned closer to see—Laura snarled viciously and pulled it away.

"Oh boy," Logan said. "Keller…I think she's having a feral moment. Back off."

Julian jumped back as a set of claws raked the air he had just stood in. Laura was now holding the bundle against her chest very  
protectively and lying on her back again, her abdomen twitching as she prepared for the second.

"Laura—the umbilical cord," Dr. McCoy said tentatively. Laura's head jerked towards him and she bared her teeth even as she began  
straining again.

"I don't think we're getting near her," Julian said, now on his tippy toes as he tried to see over her arm. "Figures that she'd keep all the  
_good_ stuff to herself."

Laura arched again, one hand slamming on the table and popping the claws. They sliced through the metal and she drew them up,  
causing a shrieking noise—followed by the same, wet, tearing noise that had accompanied the first sac. Dr. McCoy handed it to  
Laura immediately, seeing that her behavior wasn't quite human at the moment.

This time Julian watched, wincing as Laura began tearing at the disgusting mess with her teeth to reveal another tiny face. She  
licked at it, much like a dog—then she scrambled to her knees, the bundles on the gurney. She tied knots on the umbilical cords,  
popped a claw, and held the excess taut. _Slice. _

Laura glared at them all—and then before anyone understood what was happening, she had scooped up the two infants and  
disappeared down the hallway, leaving splats of fluid on the floor behind her.

Silence in the room.

"…" Julian stared at the mess, then ran after her, slipping on the puddles, followed by Dr. McCoy, Logan, and Sarah, all pale.

**…**

"FROST!" Logan snarled, as Emma rounded the corner, holding a cup of tea.

"Wha—"

"Find Laura! Quick!"

Emma raised her eyebrows. "What's she done now?"

Sarah caught up. "She's delivered! And taken the infants!"

"_What?"_ Emma stared at them, then her eyes dropped to the floor—to the enormous puddle of amniotic fluid at her feet. She jumped  
backwards, adding tea to the mess. "Good heavens! These are my priceless Armani original shoes!"

"Frost, I swear t' god, if you don't track that kid down right now—"

"Alright, alright. Calm down—you would think _you'd _just delivered," Emma said. She closed her eyes. "I'm sensing something to the  
south of campus—I can't access it—no—but—"

Logan tore off down the hall again, and Sarah followed. Emma watched after them, then set her teacup down on a hallway table  
and pursued, figuring that they might want her help.

**…**

"LAURA!" Julian caught up to her at the trees with a burst of flight, leaving a long trail of smoking green atmosphere behind himself.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?! Get over here! You should be resting!"

She turned to him and bared her teeth, crouching. Her eyes were red and bloodshot. The still sac-covered infants were still clutched  
tightly to her chest, a tiny fist was pressed against her throat. Julian was very curious about it, but Laura certainly didn't seem to  
want to share.

She backed into the trees, her eyes flashing in the darkness, along with the foot-claws, which she'd just popped.

"I'm not going to hurt them—" he said, but she turned and started _running_ through the _bushes._

Julian reached out and tried to grab her mentally—with his left, injured hand. "Arrgh!" he yelled in pain, doubling over. When he finally  
straightened, she was gone. He blasted trees brush out of his way with his uninjured hand (which had shakier control over his powers),  
but she was gone.

**…**

Logan folded his arms. They'd met Julian at the tree line.

He looked quite worn out.

"What the fuck is she even _doing?_" he asked, upon seeing the other X-men.

"She's gone to the third stage of labor…expelling the placenta," Dr. McCoy said. "Then she will possibly lick the children dry, eat all  
the remaining evidence of the birth, and guard them jealously until they are mobile."

"…" Julian sat down on the ground. "This is a little much."

"Huh," Logan looked into the woods. "C'mon, Keller. We're going hunting. But you can't get all grabby just yet…we're gonna  
have to convince her."

Julian nodded, hauling himself to his feet. He felt about ready to pass out; his hand was on fire, but he really didn't care right now.


	51. 14: The Shrimps 2:2 bloodties

**A/N: **And this is the last issue in Volume 2. Upon my return in January (probably the first weekend of the month), I will begin to post Volume 3 (check website, author page and blog,  
I will post alerts). I will also begin to regularly update all the other stories again. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and followed this story! I hope you've enjoyed it so far,  
and will continue to do so. I have many many plans for these characters, even deeper-seated plots now that they've been established. Enjoy, happy holidays! ^.^ ~onelildustbunni

* * *

**  
( Volume: 2 Arc: "The Shrimps" 14 Issue: 2/2 )**

 **Chapter 80 : bloodties ******

* * *

Logan pointed silently at a clump of bushes, about three miles from the institute.

They had been creeping through the woods for hours, without even a light, even though it was nighttime; Logan had whispered, earlier, that  
they wanted to remain undetected for as long as possible. Julian kept stepping on branches and snapping them, to which Logan would give  
him annoyed looks.

Julian leaned against a tree and tried to see what Logan was pointing at. It was a very dark area of bush; finally his eyes adjusted slightly  
and he could see slight movement. He felt like he was hunting rabbits, or something.

They continued to watch for a while. The bush rustled, and suddenly, a patch of white appeared; skin—Laura's arm. She was sitting up in  
the brush, looking straight at them, her nostrils flaring.

Julian opened his mouth to speak, but Logan shook his head. He grabbed the wrist of his hand—his injured hand—and held it up. Julian  
thought he understood—she was smelling his blood. He stayed silently, with his hand in the air, feeling stupid and unnecessary. And  
very in pain.

_Rustle. _Laura had gotten to her feet and was walking towards him now, an infant in each arm (he couldn't see too well in the dark but  
they weren't shining anymore, which he assumed meant the sacs were gone). Laura's expression was very threatening—he could make  
it out as she drew closer. She stopped, a few feet from him, then leaned forward.

_Snfffff. _She was sniffing his palm.

"What—should I _pet_ her now?" Julian asked. She jumped backwards.

"Shut up, kid," Logan said. "Smell her."

Julian leaned forwards (not entirely sure he _wanted_ to smell her, covered in all sorts of disgusting fluids and dirt) and inhaled slightly. It  
was to show some sort of trust, he figured. Laura watched him carefully, doubtfully. There was a big clump of dirt on her cheek—he  
reached out with his good hand and brushed it off; she flinched, but didn't pull away.

"Okay, Keller, think she's easy. Take your litter back to your house, and for God's sakes, make _sure _you train them." Logan rolled his  
eyes and turned away; Laura continued to watch Julian carefully. He let his eyes slip down to the two heads facing her chest, very  
curious; her lip curled slightly. He looked her in the eye again quite quickly, then turned and followed Logan. He heard Laura behind him.

**…**

In the house; Laura having retreated to the bed. She'd done something odd with the bed sheets—bunched them up into a nest-like  
formation and placed the Shrimps amongst the folds; then _she'd_ curled around them, in a fetal position herself, her eyes shifting around the room.

He sat in the chair, deciding not to push his luck.

Elixir had healed his hand earlier, but he hadn't washed it, afraid of being attacked should the scent not be present (Logan had suggested  
it casually, and it was now lodged in the back of his mind).

He was more concerned with the fact that he was dying to see the Shrimps—really _look_ at them—but Laura wasn't having it. He hadn't even  
gotten to touch them yet. They hadn't made a sound this whole time, other than for a small occasional hiccough to indicate there were  
other life forms in the room.

Laura sat up, a few hours later, and he saw that she'd torn her hospital-like gown off at the shoulder, and was nursing one of them carefully.

He tried not to lean forwards, even though it took all his willpower not to. A tiny downy head was against her breast, along with a small fist.

It was curled—and two minute points were sticking out between the knuckles.

Claws.

He tilted his head slightly, trying to see it better. Laura turned her back to him; he sighed and watched what he _could_ see now—a foot, with  
five very minute but well-developed toes—very intently.

**…**

The behavior lasted the rest of the week, with everyone else unable to even enter the house, and Julian not able to get closer than the end  
of the bed without Laura making threatening noises and popping her claws. It finally changed on Sunday evening, when Julian gave into  
exhaustion, slipped out of the chair to the floor and started snoring loudly. He woke up later to Laura poking him in the shoulder, kneeling  
beside him.

"SHHH!" she said, holding her finger to her lips. "You'll wake them up, asshole."

Julian lifted his head from the floor and glared at her. "So you're over it, then."

"Uh-huh." Laura touched his face. "I'm…I'm really, really, really sorry…" she smiled in a pained way. "I don't know what happened. I just…I  
blacked out…I…"

"You went well beyond that tolerance thing I talked about," he said, making a face and pushing himself up. "Hogged the Shrimps, and  
everything, you greedy bitch. Can I actually see them now?"

"Okay," Laura said, guiltily.

"And you're not going to eat me?"

"No," Laura said, grinning. She leaned forward and kissed him, hard. He pushed her away and wiped his mouth. "Absolutely not. You brush  
your teeth first, then burn the toothbrush. You—you _ate_ the placentas, Laura."

Her eyes widened; she scrambled to her feet and ran for the bathroom, the sounds of vomit already starting.

Julian looked up at the bed and met a pair wide blue eyes, very similar to his own, in a much smaller face—but quite obviously the boy. He  
had a series of trailing, slightly darker lines all over the skin Julian could see, curling in tribal-like patterns—reminiscent of animal markings. The  
blanket covered his face from the bridge of his nose onward.

"Hi," Julian said, feeling awkward. The baby was silent, a finger appearing beside his face. Another face appeared beside him—the girl, with  
wide, slanted green eyes and big lashes. She had patterns too—in a different formation, but with the same theme. Camouflage.

The horrible noises from the bathroom finally ceased, and the tap went on. Julian could hear Laura brushing her teeth quite violently. He got  
to his feet and examined the infants more thoroughly; the patterns seemed to continue all over their skin, very faintly, although it was more  
concentrated around their faces. They seemed to be studying him too—then both their faces contorted at the same moment.

"_**WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!**_"

_Clunk_—Laura's toothbrush. She appeared at the door, her eyes wide. "What the hell are you _doing_ to them?!" she demanded.

"I—" Julian was confused. She turned the bathroom light off and hurried to the bed, gathering one up in her arms and watching _him_  
suspiciously. "Did you try to pick them up or something?" she continued.

"No," Julian sat on the edge of the bed. "They looked at me and—"

"Oh, HAHAHA!" Laura threw back her head. "They just realized who they had for a _father!_ Oh, my god, that is so funny! They're really bright."

"Grr."

Both twins had fallen silent again, at Laura's presence; she looked at Julian.

"Here." She held one out—the boy. Julian hesitated—the boy was watching him just as uncertainly. "For god's sakes, Keller, you're going to  
end up doing it at some point _anyways_. Take him."

Julian complied, clutching the baby quite fearfully in his hands, thinking he was going to break the creature; he felt so tiny, although  
heavy. He supported his bottom like his mother had shown him and tried to examine the boy's face better.

"We decided on Nate, right?" Julian asked, noting that, aside from the eyes, he couldn't tell who he looked like. The down on his head was  
black, as was the girl's, now in Laura's arms.

"Mhmm." Laura looked at him carefully; at first he thought she was looking for flaws in his support of the child, but then decided otherwise.

"She's checking us out," he whispered to the boy.

Laura grinned. "You wish, Keller."


End file.
